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Full text of "Kirby's wonderful and eccentric museum; or, Magazine of remarkable characters. Including all the curiosities of nature and art, from the remotest period to the present time, drawn from every authentic source. Illustrated with one hundred and twenty-four engravings. Chiefly taken from rare and curious prints or original drawings"

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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SOT 


HO  ,\"T  |(J3.|>  I  KCK 


KIRB  Y'S 
WONDERFUL 


ECCENTRIC  MUSEUM; 


OR, 

MAGAZINE 


INCLUDING   ALL   THE 

CURIOSITIES  OF  NATURE  AND  ART, 

FROM    THE    REMOTEST    PERIOD    TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME, 
Drawnfrom  every  authentic  Source. 


ILLUSTRATED    WITH 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-FOUR  ENGRAVINGS. 

CHIEFLY  TAKEN  FROM  RARE  AND    CURIOUS    PRINTS 
OR   ORIGINAL    DRAWINGS. 


SIX    VOLUMES. 

VOL.  III. 


LONDON: 

R.    S.    KIRBY,    LONDON    HOUSE    YARD,  ST.  PAUL'S. 

1820. 


A  C 


PARTICULARS 


SOUTER  FELL,  IN  CUMBERLAND. 


SoUT 


FELL  is  nearly  nine  hundred  yards  high, 
barricaded  on  the  north  and  west  sides  with  precipitous 
rocks,  but  somewhat  more  open  on  the  east,  and  easier 
of  access.  On  this  mountain  occurred  the  extraordinary 
phenomena,  that  towards  the  middle  of  the  past  century, 
excited  so  much  conversation  and  alarm  ;  we  mean  the 
visionary  appearances  of  armed  men  and  other  figures  ; 
the  causes  of  which  have  never  yet  received  a  satisfactory 
solution,  though  ftom  the  circumstances  hereafter  men- 
tioned, there  seems  reason  to  believe  that  they  are  not 
entirely  inexplicable.  The  particulars  are  related  some- 
what differently ;  but  as  Mr.  Clarke  procured  the  attesta- 
tions of  two  of  the  persons  to  whom  the  phenomena 
were  first  visible,  to  the  account  inserted  in  his  Survey 
of  the  Lakes,  we  shall  relate  the  circumstances  from 
that  authority. 

By  the  attested  relation,  it  seems,  that  the  first  time 
any  of  these  visionary  phenomena  were  observed,  was  on 
a  summer's  evening,  in  the  year  1743.  As  Daniel 

Eccentric,  No.  I.  R  Stricket. 


'£  EXTRAORDINARY    VISIONS. 

Stricket,  then  servant  to  John  Wren,  of  Wilton  Hall* 
the  next  house  to  Blakehills,*  was  sitting  at  the  door 
with  his  master,  they  saw  the  figure  of  a  man  with  a 
dog,  pursuing  some  horses  along  Souter  Fell  side,  a 
place  so  steep  that  a  horse  can  scarcely  travel  on  it  at  all. 
They  appeared  to  run  at  an  amazing  pace,  till  they  got 
out  of  si2;ht  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Fell.  The  next 

~ 

morning  Stricket  and  his  master  ascended  the  steep  side 
of  the  mountain,  in  full  expectation  that  they  should 
find  the  man  lying  dead  :  as  they  were  persuaded  that 
the  swiftness  with  which  he  ran  must  have  killed  him  : 
and  imagined  likewise  that  they  should  pick  up  some  of 
the  shoes,  which  they  thought  the  horses  must  have  lost 
in  galloping  at  such  a  furious  rate.  They,  however, 
were  disappointed  ;  for  there  appeared  not  the  least 
vestige  of  either  man  or  horses,  not  so  much  as  the  mark 
of  a  horse's  hoof  upon  the  turf.  Astonishment,  and  a 
degree  of  fear,  perhaps,  for  some  time  induced  them  to 
conceal  the  circumstances  ;  but  they  at  length  disclosed 
them  ;  and,  as  might  be  expected,  were  only  laughed  at 
for  their  credulity. 

The  following  year  1744,  on  the  23rd  of  June,  as  the 
same  Daniel  Stricket,  who  at  that  time  lived  with  Mr. 
William  Lancaster's  father,  of  Blakehills,  was  walking  a 
little  above  the  house,  about  half  past  seven  in  the  even- 
ing, he  saw  a  troop  of  horsemen  riding  on  Souter  Fell 
side,  in  pretty  close  ranks,  and  at  a  brisk  pace.  Mind- 
ful of  the  ridicule  which  had  been  excited  against  him 
the  preceding  year,  he  continued  to  observe  them  in 
silence  for  some  time  ;  but  being  at  last  convinced  that 
the  appearance  was  real,  he  went  into  the  house,  and 
informed  Mr.  Lancaster,  that  he  had  something  curious 
to  shew  him.  They  went  out  together,  but  before 
Stricket  had  either  spoken  or  pointed  to  the  place,  his 

*  These  places  are  about  half  a  mile  from  Souter  Fell. 

master's 


EXTRAORDINARY    VISIONS. 

master's  son  had  himself  discovered  the  aerial  troopers  ; 
and  when  conscious  that  the  same  appearances  were 
visible  to  both,  they  informed  the  family,  and  the  phe- 
nomena were  seen  alike  by  all. 

These  visionary  horsemen  seemed  to  come  from  the 
lowest  part  of  Souter  Fell,  and  became  visible  at  a  place 
called  Knott  ;  they  then  moved  in  regular  troops  along 
the  side  of  the  Fell,  till  they  became  opposite  to  Blake- 
hills,  when  they  went  over  the  mountain  ;  thus  they  de- 
scribed a  kind  of  curvilineal  path,  and  both  their  first 
and  last  appearance  were  bounded  by  the  top  of  the 
mountain. 

The  pace  at  which  these  shadowy  forms  proceeded, 
was  a  regular  swift  walk  ;  and  the  whole  time  of  the 
continuance  of  their  appearance  was  upwards  of  two 
hours  ;  but  further  observation  was  then  precluded  by 
the  approach  of  darkness.  Many  troops  were  seen  in 
succession,  and  frequently  the  last,  or  last  but  one  in  a 
troop,  would  quit  his  position,  gallop  to  the  front,  and 
then  observe  the  same  pace  with  the  others.  The  same 
changes  were  visible  to  all  the  spectators  ;  and  the  view 
of  the  phenomena  was  not  confined  to  J3lakeMUs  only, 
"'  but  was  seen  by  every  person,  at  every  cottage  within 
the  distance  of  a  mile."  Such  are  the  particulars  of  this 
singular  relation,  as  given  by  Mr.  Clarke.  The  attesta- 
tion is  signed  by  Lancaster  and  Stricket,  and  dated  the 
21st  of  July,  1785.  The  number  of  persons  who  wit- 
nessed the  march  of  these  aerial  travellers  seems  to  have 
been  twenty-six. 

These  phenomena  have  by  some  been  considered  as  a 
mere  deceptio  visits ;  but  to  us  it  appears  in  the  highest 
degree  improbable,  that  so  many  spectators  should  expe- 
rience the  same  kind  of  illusion,  and  at  exactly  the  same 
period.  We  should  rather  attribute  the  appearances  to 
particular  states  of  the  atmosphere,  and  suppose  them  to 

B  2  be 


4  EXTRAORDINARY    VISIONS. 

be  the  shadows  of  realities;*  the  airy  resemblances  of 
scenes  actually  passing  in  a  distant  part  of  the  country, 
and  by  some  singular  operation  of  natural  causes,  thus 
expressly  imaged  on  the  acclivity  of  the  mountains.  We 
shall  illustrate  our  opinion  by  some  particulars  relating 
to  the  Spectre  of  the  Broken,  an  aerial  figure  that  is 
sometimes  seen  among  the  Harz  Mountains  in  Hanoverf. 

"  Having  ascended  the  Broken,"  observes  M.  Haue, 
from  whose  diary  tliis  account  is  transcribed,  "  for  the 
thirtieth  time,  I  was  at  length  so  fortunate  as  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  this  phenomenon.  The  sun  rose 
about  four  o'clock,  and  the  atmosphere  being  quite  se- 
rene towards  the  east,  his  rays  could  pass  without  any 
obstruction  over  the  Heinrichshbhe  :  In  the  south-west, 
however,  towards  Achtermannshb'he,  a  brisk  west  wind 
carried  before  it  thin  transparent  vapours.  About  a 
quarter  past  four  I  looked  round,  to  see  whether  the  at- 
mosphere would  permit  me  to  have  a  free  prospect  to  the 
south-west,  when  I  observed,  at  a  very  great  distance  to- 
wards Achtermannshb'he,  a  human  figure  of  a  monstrous 
size!  A  violent  gust  of  wind  having  almost  carried  away 
my  hat,  I  clapped  my  hand  to  it,  by  moving  my  arms 
towards  my  head,  and  the  colossal  figure  did  the  same. 

"  The  pleasure  which  I  felt  at  this  discovery  can  hard- 
ly be  described  ;  for  I  had  already  walked  many  a  weary 
step  in  the  hopes  of  seeing  this  shadowy  image,  without 
being  able  to  gratify  my  curiosity.  I  immediately  made 
another  movement,  by  bending  my  body,  and  the  colos- 
sal figure  before  me  repeated  it.  I  was  desirous  of  doing 
the  same  thing  once  more,  but  my  colossus  had  vanished. 
I  remained  in  the  same  position,  waiting  to  see  whether 

*  It  should  be  remarked,  that  the  time  when  these  appearances  were  ob- 
served, was  the  eve  of  the  rebellion,  when  some  troops  of  horsemen  might 
be  privately  exercising. 

\  Her  Gotlin^-n-lir*  .'<)/!?;«/  dn-  Xaturii-issencliaften,  1\>I.  I.  I'ui't  111. 


EXTRAORDINARY    VISIONS.  O 

it  would  return ;  and  in  a  few  minutes  it  again  made  its 
appearance  on  the   Achtermannshohe.     I  paid   my  res- 
pects to  it  a  second  time,  and  it  did  the  same  to  me.     I 
then  called   the  landlord   of   the    Broken,     (the    neigh- 
bouring inn,)  and  having  both   taken  the  same  position 
which  I  had  taken  alone,  we  looked  towards  the  Achter- 
mannshohe, but  saw   nothing.       We  had  not,    however, 
stood  long,  when  two  such  colossal  figures  were  formed 
over  the  above  eminence,  which  repeated  their  compli- 
ments by   bending   their  bodies  as    we    did,  after  which 
they  vanished.     We  retained  our  position,  kept  our  eyes 
fixed   on  the  spot,  and  in  a   little  time   the  two  figures 
again  stood  before  us,  and  were  joined  by  a  third.     Every 
movement  that  we  made,  these  figures  imitated ;  but  with 
this    difference,    that    the    phenomenon   was    sometimes 
weak  and  faint,  sometimes  strong  and  well  defined." 

This  curious  detail  concerning  the  imitative  powers  of 
the  Spectre  of  the  Broken,  demonstrates  that  the  ac- 
tions of  human  beings  are  sometimes  pictured  on  the 
clouds ;  and  when  all  the  circumstances  of  the  pheno- 
mena onSouter-fell  are  considered,  it  seems  highly  pro- 
bable, that  some  thin  vapours  must  have  been  hovering 
round  its  summit  at  the  time  when  the  appearances  were 
observed.  It  is  also  probable,  that  these  vapours  must 
have  been  impressed  with  the  shadowy  forms  that  seemed 
to  ''  imitate  humanity,"  by  a  particular  operation  of  the 
sun's  rays,  united  with  some  singular,  but  unknown  re- 
fractive combinations,  that  were  then  taking  place  in  the 
atmosphere. 

The  Reading  Mercury  of  Monday,  March  19th,   1778, 
contains  an  article  similar  to    the  occurrence   of    Souter- 

fell it  runs  thus, 

"  An  Army  of  Ghosts  /" 

"  One  day  last  week,  as  two  gentlemen  were  taking  a 
ride  over    Mortimer  Common,   they    perceived   at  some 

distance 


6  BIRTH    OF    A    CHILD    WITHOUT    BRALNS. 

distance  a  regiment  of  horse  soldiers,  in  white  uniforms, 
exercising,  as  they  conceived,  on  the  plain  ;  on  their 
making  towards  them,  the  soldiers  shifted  ground,  and 
the  gentlemen  then  making  a  violent  effort  to  come  up 
with  them,  the  whole  regiment  in  an  instant  vanished 
from  their  sight  !  Such  is  the  story  that  we  have  been 
told  this  day  by  a  number  of  respectable  gentlemen  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  we  hope  next  week  to  be  ena- 
bled to  unravel  this  mysterious  vision  !' 

It  was  seven  years  after  the  above  advertisement  ap- 
peared, that  the  appearance  at  Souter-fell  was  attested  by 
Btricket  and  Lancaster,  and  first  made  public  in  Clarke's 
Survey  of  the  Lakes,  who  probably  never  noticed  the 
Reading  article,  or  doubtless  would  have  inserted  it  in  his 
account. 


SINGULAR    BIRTH    OP    A    CHILD    WITHOUT    BRAINS. 

'x  the  26th  of  May  178S,  MARY  CLARK,  aged  26, 
and  the  mother  of  six  children,  was  delivered  of  a  fe- 
male child,  in  Carlisle  Dispensary.  The  child's  head 
had  a  very  unusual  appearance,  and  it  seemed  evident 
that  the  bones  of  the  upper  part  of  the  skull  were  want- 
ing, and  that  the  brain  was  only  covered  by  its  proper 
membranes,  the  pia  and  dura  muter,  and  resembled  a 
large  excrescence,  which  projected  a  little  over  the  com- 
mon integuments.  "  The  colour  of  this  substance," 
says  Dr.  Heysham,  "  was  a  dark  reddish  brown  ;  and 
upon  examining  it  particularly,  I  thought  I  could  per- 
ceive the  division  of  the  two  hemispheres  of  the  brain, 
and  likewise  the  division  of  the  cerebrum  from  the  ce- 
rebellum. The  child  \vas  full  grown,  and  seemed  in 

perfect 


BIRTH    OF     A    CHILD    WITHOUT    BRAINS.  / 

perfect  health ;  her  limbs  were  plump,  fine,  and  well 
proportioned,  and  she  moved  them  with  apparent  agility  : 
the  external  organs  of  sense  were  also  perfect.  She  took 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  nourishment  for  several  days;  but 
sometimes  during  the  action  of  swallowing:,  started  a 

o  O ' 

little.  She  lived  till  five  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning, 
June  the  first,  when  she  expired  ;  but  some  time  before 
her  death  was  affected  with  slight  convulsions.  During 
the  three  or  four  days  preceding  her  death,  there  was  a 
constant  discharge  of  a  thin  watery  fluid,  somewhat 
tinned  with  blood,  from  the  excrescence,  which  greatly 
diminished  its  bulk ;  for  at  her  death,  it  was  only  about 
half  the  size  of  what  it  had  been  when  she  was  born,  and 
the  surface  was  in  some  places  beginning  to  put  on  the 
appearance  of  mortification.'' 

A  few  hours  after  her  death,  Dr.  Heysham,  and  two 
other  professional  gentlemen,  dissected  the  head,  and 
removed  the  whole  of  the  substance  from  the  bones  :  the 
greatest  part  of  the  frontal,  the  temporal,  the  occipital, 
and  the  whole  of  the  parietal  bones  were  wanting.  The 
substance  removed  was  then  examined,  and,  to  the  ut- 
most astonishment  of  the  operators,  found  to  consist  of 
membranes,  blood-vessels,  and  principally  of  small 
bags  of  different  sizes,  but  all  filled  with  a  brownish  co- 
loured fluid.  The  spinal  marrow  had  a  natural  appear- 
ance, yet  did  not  seem  to  have  been  connected  with  the 
above  parts  ;  but  there  was  not  the  least  indication  of 
either  "  cerebrum,  cerebellum,  or  any  medullary  substance 
whatever  r  Among  the  inferences  deduced  by  Dr.  Hev- 

O  •/  v 

sham  from  this  extraordinary  conformation,  but  advanc- 
ed with  modest  diffidence,  is,  "  That  the  living  principle, 
the  nerves  of  the  trunk  and  extremities,  sensation,  and 
motion,  may  exist  independent  of  a  brain  !  and  that  the 
natural,  vital,  and  animal  functions  may  be  performed 
without  ono." 

REMARK- 


[     8     .1 

REMARKABLE    FEMALE. 

the  village  of  Portenscales,  near  Keswick,  in 
Cumberland,  in  the  year  1794,  was  living  in  her  eighty- 
fourth  year,  Mary  Wilson.  She  had  been  then  twenty- 
three  years  a  widow  :  her  husband  left  her  a  cow,  which 
she  sold  for  five  pounds,  but  lost  two  pounds,  eighteen 
shillings  of  it  by  a  bad  debt ;  the  remaining  two  guineas 
she  has  locked  up  in  her  box,  with  a  firm  determination 
to  save  it  to  defray  her  funeral  expenses.  House-rent  is 
fifteen  shillings  a-year,  and  coals  cost  her  five  shillings 
more.  Her  whole  earnings  are  two  and  sixpence  a  month, 
which  she  receives  for  carding  and  spinning  eight  pounds 
of  wool.  She  goes  to  Keswick  regularly  every  four 
weeks  with  eight  pounds  of  yarn  on  her  back,  and  re- 
turns with  eight  pounds  of  wool  ;  this  she  has  done  for 
many  years  past.  Her  time  is  thus  employed,  or  in 
gathering  fuel,  viz.  fern,  whins,  &c.  She  has  nothing 
to  support  nature  but  this  scanty  earning.  Her  dress  is 
not  expensive ;  her  market-going  hat  has  served  her 
thirty  years,  and  her  petticoat  sixty-five  :  her  pewter 
dishes  are  bright  as  when  new  ;  her  house  neat  and  clean. 
She  hears,  sees,  and  walks  as  well  as  most  persons  of 
fifty;  is  always  cheerful,  and  never  was  heard  to  utter  a 
complaint.  She  has  frequently  been  advised  to  live 
comfortably  on  the  little  she  had,  and  then  to  apply  to 
the  parish-officers  for  relief.  Her  answer  has  always 
been,  "  Nay,  nay,  I'll  not  be  troublesome  so  long  as  I  can 
work."  She  has  never  till  last  year  received  any  charity: 
when  some  humane  people  left  her  about  four  shillings. 
No  account  has  been  given  of  her  death,  and  in  all  pro- 
bability she  resides  in  the  same  place  at  the  present  hour; 
a  wonderful  instance  how  little  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
support  nature. 

THE 


[     9     ] 

THE  REPRESENTATION  OF  THE  UNDAUNTED  CONDUCT  OP 
JOHN  CRAWFORD,  ON  BOARD  THE  VENERABLE,  OCTO- 
BER llTH,  1797. 

(With  a  plate. ) 

JL  HAT  cool,  determined  resolution,  that  dauntless  cou- 
rage and  contempt  of  dangers  and  death  for  which 
British  Tars  have  ever  been  distinguished,  was  never 
more  strikingly  displayed  than  in  the  hard-earned  victory 
gained  by  the  English  fleet  over  the  Dutch  off  Camper- 
down,  on  the  llth  of  October,  1797.  The  more  impor- 
tant events  of  that  glorious  day  are  too  recent  to  be  for- 
gotten by  our  readers,  so  that  a  repetition  of  them  here 
would  be  unnecessary.  It  is  therefore  our  intention  to 
rescue  from  oblivion  a  trait  of  daring  courage  and  un- 
conquerable intrepidity  exhibited  on  that  occasion,  by 
an  humble  individual,  whose  gallant  conduct,  though  not 
known  or  noticed  by  the  historian,  is  not  the  less  deserving 
of  record. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  this  engagement  Lord  Duncan 
in  the  Venerable  was  for  a  long  time  closely  engaged  with 
the  Vryheid  of  74  guns  bearing  the  flag  of  Admiral  de 
Winter.  That  gallant  officer  made  a  most  desperate  re- 
sistance, and  did  not  strike  till  he  had  lost  all  his  masts  and 
(by  his  own  official  account)  one  half  of  his  people.  Dur- 
ing this  obstinate  action,  the  flag  halliards  of  the  Venera- 
ble were  shot  away.  A  young  man  named  John  Craw- 
ford, perceiving  this,  ascended  the  mast  for  the  purpose  of 
again  hoisting  the  colours  ;  and  to  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  a  similar  accident,  he  actually  nailed  the  flag  to  the 
main-top-gallant  mast-head,  ( in  which  act  he  is  represented 
in  our  plate}  at  the  same  time  declaring,  that  "  It  should 
not  come  down  again  but  with  the  mast !'' 

Here  let  us  reflect  on  the  immense  height  of  the 
main-top-gallant  mast-head  of  a  seventy-four  gun  ship, 
to  which  Crawford  ascended,  prepared  to  execute  this 

Eccentric,  No.  /.  c  design  : 


10  UNDAUNTED    CONDUCT    OF    JOHN    CRAWFORD. 

design  :  where  he  had  nothing  but  a  slender  stick  to  sup- 
port himself  upon  with  one  hand,  while  with  the  other 
he  performed  the  object  he  was  bent  upon  executing. 
Let  it  likewise  be  considered,  that  it  was  not  in  the  tran- 
quil calm  of  a  fine  day,  but,  amidst  the  heat  of  a  furious 
engagement,  when  balls,  dealing  death  and  destruc- 
tion, were  flying  about  him  in  every  direction  :— and 
surely,  there  is  none  who  can  refrain  from  admiring  thnt 
adventurous  spirit,  and  that  cool  and  steady  determina- 
tion, which  encouraged  and  prompted  him  to  the  daring 
achievement. 

This  intrepid  youth  was  a  native  of  Sunderland,  which 
town  prepared  a  medal  at  its  own  expence  to  be  present- 
ed to  him  for  his  heroic  conduct  on  this  occasion.  On 
one  side  is  a  view  of  tsvo  ships  in-  action,  and  above  is  a 
scroll  bearing  the  inscription  "  Duncan  and  Glory."  The 
reverse  is  a  coat  of  arms,  a  quadrant  on  a  shield,  with 
the  motto  "  Orbis  cst  Dei ;"  underneath  which  is  this  in- 
scription— "  The  town  of  Sunderland  to  John  Crawford,  for 
gallant  services  on  the  \\t1i  of  October,  1797.'' 

The  heroism  of  the  youthful  Crawford,  recals  to  our 
memory  the  history  of  Admiral  Hopson,  who,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  last  century  held  that  distinguished 
rank  in  the  British  navy,  lie  was  born  at  Bonchurch,  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  and  ap- 
prenticed by  the  parish  to  a  tailor.  While  sitting  one 
day  alone  on  the  shop-board,  he  was  struck  by  the  sight 
of  a  squadron  coining  round  Dunnose,  when  instantly 
quitting  his  work,  he  ran  to  the  sea-side,  jumped  into  a 
boat  and  rowed  for  the  Admiral's  ship,  in  which  he  en- 
tered as  a  volunteer.  The  next  morning  the  English 
fleet  fell  in  with  a  French  squadron,  :md  a  warm  action 
ensued.  Young  llopson  obeyed  every  order  with  the 
utmost  alacrity  ;  but  after  fighting  two  hours  he  became 
impatient,  and  enquired  "  what  they  were  fighting  for?" 
The  sailors  replied,  "  that  the  conflict  must  continue  till 


HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER.  11 

the  white  rag  at  the  enemy's  mast-head  was  struck." 
Upon  receiving  this  information,  his  resolution  was  in- 
stantly taken,  and  he  exclaimed,  —  "  O  !  if  that's  all,  I'll  see 
what  I  can  do."  The  hostile  ships  were  now  engaged 
yard-arm  and  yard-arm,  and  completely  enveloped  in 
smoke.  This  circumstance  was  favourable  to  the  deter- 
mination of  the  youthful  hero,  who  mounting  the  shrouds 
unobserved,  gained  the  French  Admiral's  main-yard, 
ascended  with  agility  to  the  main-top-gallant  mast-head, 
ancl  carried  off  the  French  flag.  The  enemy's  colours 
having  disappeared,  the  British  tars  shouted  "  Victory!" 
The  French  were  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  same  cir- 
cumstance, and  ran  from  their  guns  ;  the  vessel  was 
boarded  by  the  English  and  taken.  At  this  moment 
Hopson  descended  the  shrouds  with  the  French  flag 
wrapped  round  his  arm,  which  he  triumphantly  displayed. 
The  sailors  received  the  prize  with  astonishment  ;  and 
the  Admiral,  on  hearing  of  the  exploit,  sent  for  and 
thus  addressed  him:  "  My  lad,  I  believe  you  to  be  a 
brave  youth  —  From  this  day  I  order  you  to  walk  the 
quarter-deck  ;  and  if  your  future  conduct  is  equally  me- 
ritorious, you  shall  obtain  my  patronage  and  protection." 
Hopson  soon  convinced  his  patron  that  the  opinion  he 
had  formed  of  him  was  not  unfounded  :  he  went  rapidly 
through  the  different  ranks  of  the  service,  till  at  length 
he  attained  that  of  an  admiral. 


EXTRAORDINARY    HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP-WALKER. 

The  following  Account  of  a  Sleep-walker,  is  of  such  a  singular  and  asto- 
nishing nature,  that  some  may  perhaps  be  inclined  to  doubt  the  truth  of 
the  circumstances  detailed  in  it.  \Vo  should  certainly  not  have  given 
them  a  place  ia  this  collection  had  they  not  been  attested  by  two  gentle- 
men of  character  and  talents,  Messrs.  Reghelini  and  Pigatti,  of  Yicenza, 
who  drew  up  the  following  narrative  from  actual  observations  made  by 
them  in  the  year  1745. 

rp 

.I  HE  Marquis  Lewis  Salle  of  Vicenza,  had  a    domestic 

named  Negritti,   who  was  the  most  singular  sleep-walker 

c  'J  that 


12  HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER. 

that  has  yet  been  observed.  This  man  was  of  the  middling 
size,  of  a  complect  ion  between  pale  and  brown,  of  a  very 
dry  constitution,  hot  and  passionate  temper,  and  addicted 
to  drinking;  he  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  accustom- 
ed to  walk  in  his  sleep  from  the  age  of  eleven  years,  and 
what  was  not  a  little  extraordinary,  his  fits  took  him  only 
in  spring,  that  is,  from  the  beginning  of  March  till  about 
the  middle  of  April.  In  other  seasons  his  sleep  was  tran- 
quil, excepting  a  few  nights  in  autumn,  when  he  used 
suddenly  to  raise  himself  in  his  bed,  on  which  he  awoke, 
lay  down  and  quietly  fell  asleep  again. 

The  first  scene  began  about  the  hour  of  two  in  the  morn- 
ing, some  time  before  which  he  appeared  so  overcome 
with  sleep  that  he  could  scarcely  support  himself.  He 
then  sat  down  on  a  chair  in  the  anti-chamber,  and  there 
slept  as  usual  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Afterwards  sitting 
up  straight  he  remained  some  time  motionless  as  if  in  pro- 
found thought  or  listening  to  something.  He  then  rose, 
walked  about  in  the  anti-chamber,  took  his  snuff-box  out 
of  his  pocket  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  pinch  ;  but  find- 
ing scarcely  any  snuff,  he  seemed  vexed  at  it,  and  went 
up  to  a  chair  in  which  the  steward  of  the  marchioness 
used  to  sit,  called  him  by  his  name  and  asked  him  for 
some  snuff.  An  open  box  being  presented  to  him,  he 
took  a  pinch  and  then  placed  himself  in  the  attitude  of  a 
person  who  listens ;  upon  which  as  if  he  had  received 
orders  to  that  effect,  he  ran  and  fetched  a  bougie  and  ap- 
proached towards  a  candle  which  was  always  kept  burn- 
ing in  the  same  place.  Here  supposing  he  had  lighted 
the  bougie,  he  held  it  in  a  proper  manner,  went  gentlv 
towards  the  hall  and  from  thence  to  the  stair-case,  stop- 
ping and  turning  about  from  time  to  time  as  if  he  was 
lighting  somebody  down.  At  length  having  arrived  at 
the  door  of  the  house,  he  placed  himself  in  his  accus- 
tomed situation,  and  soon  afterwards,  having  bowed  to  the 

ladies 


HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER.  13 

ladies  and  gentlemen  whom  he  imagined  to  be  going 
away,  he  extinguished  the  light,  quickly  ascended  the 
stairs  and  laid  the  bougie  in  its  place.  This  action  he  re- 
peated three  times  the  same  evening. 

Going  out  of  the  anti-chamber  he  went  into  the  pantry, 
felt  in  his  pocket  for  the  key  of  the  buffet,  and  not  finding 
it,  he  called  by  his  name  the  servant  to  whom  his  master 
had  ordered  him  to  deliver  it  before  he  went  to  bed.  It 
was  brought  him.  He  opened  the  buffet,  and  taking  out 
a  silver  salver,  placed  upon  it  four  decanters  and  went  to 
the  kitchen,  apparently  with  the  intention  of  filling  them 
with  water.  He,  however,  brought  them  back  empty 
and  proceeded  up  stairs,  when  he  had  ascended  half  way 
he  placed  all  he  held  on  a  kind  of  post  and  going  higher 
up,  knocked  at  a  door.  As  it  was  not  opened  he  went 
down  stairs  again,  called  the  valet  de  chambre,  and  having 
asked  him  some  questions,  ran  up  stairs  again  in  a  hurry, 
and  striking  the  salver  with  his  elbow,  threw  it  down  and 
broke  the  decanters.  He  knocked  a  second  time  at  the 
same  door  but  to  no  purpose  ;  he  then  went  down  again, 
taking  up  the  salver  as  he  passed.  Returning  to  the  pan- 
try he  left  it  on  a  small  table,  on  which  he  went  into  the 
kitchen,  where  having  taken  a  bucket,  he  went  to  the 
well  to  fill  it  with  water  and  carried  it  back  to  the  kitchen. 

He  again  took  up  the  salver,  and  not  finding  the  de- 
canters, he  flew  into  a  passion,  saying  that  they  must  be 
there,  for  he  had  put  them  there,  and  asking  first  one 
and  then  another  whether  they  had  taken  them  away.  At 
length,  after  looking  about  for  them,  he  again  opened 
the  buffet,  took  two  others,  rinsed  them,  filled  them  with 
water  and  set  them  upon  the  salver.  He  then  carried  the 
whole  to  the  anti-chamber,  and  went  to  the  door  of  the 
dining-room,  where,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  do  when 
awake,  he  delivered  them  to  the  valet  de  chambre,  being 
himself  forbidden  to  enter.  The  valet  took  the  salver  and 

decanters 


HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKEK. 

decanters,  and  some  time  afterwards  returned  them  to  him. 
He  carried  them  back  to  the  pantry,  opened  the  buffet 
and  put  every  thing  in  its  place.  This  done,  he  returned 
to  the  kitchen,  took  some  plates  and  began  to  wipe  them 
carefully  with  a  wet  cloth.  He  then  went  to  the  fire  as 
if  to  dry  the  cloth,  after  which  he  began  to  wipe  the  re- 
maining dishes.  Having-  finished  this  business  he  return- 
ed to  the  buffet,  laid  a  napkin  and  a  cloth  in  a  basket, 
took  up  a  smaller  basket  and  carried  it  to  a  table  on  which 
a  candle  was  generally  kept  burning.  There,  as  if  assisted 
by  the  light,  he  selected  a  spoon,  knife  and  fork,  and  car- 
ried back  the  smallest  basket  to  the  buffet  which  he 
locked. 

Having  collected  all  he  had  taken  out,  he  carried  it 
into  the  anti-chamber,  set  it  down  in  a  chair,  took  a 
small  oval  table  on  which  his  mistress  used  to  eat,  and 
laid  the  cloth  with  the  utmost  neatness.  It  should  be 
observed  that  when  he  was  seeking  this  table,  though  lie 
laid  his  hand  upon  others  which  stood  in  the  same  place 
and  were  nearly  of  the  same  form,  he  did  not  take  them. 
Having  laid  the  cloth,  he  walked  about,  blew  his  nose, 
and  pulled  out  his  snuff-box  a  second  time,  but  did  not 
attempt  to  take  a  pinch,  as  if  he  recollected,  after  two  full 
hours,  the  disappointment  he  had  before  experienced.  He 
emptied  what  was  in  it  into  his  hand,  Here  the  scene 
finished  ;  a  little  water  was  thrown  on  his  face,  which  was 
one  of  the  means  of  awaking  him. 

The  next  day,  before  Negritti  or  any  other  person  in 
the  house  was  gone  to  bed,  the  marquis,  as  usual,  had 
company  in  his  apartment ;  as  there  were  not  chairs  suf- 
ficient for  the  increasing  numbers  of  the  company,  more 
were  ordered  to  be  brought.  Negritti  overcome  with 
drowsiness,  had  fallen  asleep  and  after  a  short  repose, 
being  roused  by  the  order,  he  started  up,  blew  his  nose, 
took  snuff,  went  to  an  apartment  up  stairs  to  look  for 

chairs 


HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER.  ]5 

chairs,  and  carried  them  to  the  place  where  the  company 
was  assembled.  What  was  most  remarkable  is,  that  hav- 
ing- taken  one  in  each  hand,  when  he  came  to  the  door 
of  the  room  which  was  shut,  he  did  not  run  against  it, 
but  setting  one  hand  at  liberty,  he  opened  the  door,  took 
up  the  chair  again  which  he  had  set  down  and  carnied 
it  along  with  the  other  to  the  place  where  they  were 
wanted. 

When  he  thought  he  had  brought  a  sufficient  number, 
which  was  conjectured  from  the  words  he  uttered,  he 
went  to  the  pantry,  searched  his  pockets  for  the  key  of  the 
buffet,  but  not  finding  it,  he  appeared  vexed.  Taking 
up  a  candle,  he  looked  about  in  every  corner  of  the  pan- 
try and  on  all  the  steps  of  the  stairs,  going  with  great 
speed,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground,  on  which  he 
frequently  felt  with  his  hand,  under  the  idea  that  he  had 
dropped  the  key.  The  valet  dexterously  slipped  it  into 
one  of  his  pockets.  After  much  fruitless  search,  he  again 
put  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  and  finding  the  key,  was 
angry  with  himself  for  his  stupidity,  opened  the  buffet, 
took  out  a  table-cloth,  a  plate  and  two  loaves,  locked  it 
again  and  went  into  the  kitchen.  He  there  dressed  his 
portion  of  sallad,  taking  out  of  the  cupboard  all  the  in- 
gredients he  wanted  with  the  utmost  readiness,  and  sat 
down  at  a  table  to  eat.  One  of  the  persons  who  were 
watching  him,  dexterously  took  away  his  plate,  and  in  its 
place  put  another,  on  which  was  some  pickled  cabbage, 
to  which  had  been  added  a  little  vinegar  of  the  strongest 
kind.  He  continued  eating  as  before  ;  and  though  some- 
thing else  wa?  soon  afterwards  substituted  for  the  cab- 
bage, he  swallowed  it  in  the  same  way,  and  did  not  seem 
to  perceive  any  difference. 

In  eating,  he  stopped  two  or  three  times,  supposing  he 
was  called  ;  and  being  at  length  persuaded  that  he  was, 
he  rose,  quickly  ascended  the  stairs,  and  went  into  the 

room 


16  HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER. 

room  where  the  company  was.  There  finding,  probably, 
that  nothing  was  wanted,  he  went  into  the  anti-chamber, 
asked  the  other  servants  whether  he  had  been  called, 
and  returned  to  the  kitchen,  angry  at  having  been  dis- 
turbed during  his  supper.  When  he  had  finished,  he 
said  in  a  low  voice,  that  if  he  had  some  money  he  would 
go  and  drink  a  glass  at  an  adjacent  public  house  which  he 
named.  He  searched  his  pockets  for  money,  and  though 
he  could  find  none,  he  still  resolved  to  go,  saying,  he 
would  pay  the  next  day,  and  he  hoped  the  publican  would 
give  him  credit  till  then.  He  hastened  down  stairs  and 
ran  with  great  speed  to  the  public  house,  which  was  at 
the  distance  of  two  rnusket-shots.  When  arrived  there 
he  knocked  at  the  door,  without  trying  whether  it  was 
fastened,  as  if  he  knew  that  at  that  time  of  the  night  it 
ought  to  be  locked.  Perceiving  soon  afterwards  that 
some  person  was  coming  to  open  it,  he  entered,  called 
the  host,  and  ordered  a  pint  of  wine.  The  same  quan- 
tity of  water  was  brought  him,  which  he  drank  as  wine ; 
and  having  taken  the  first  glass,  he  enquired  of  the  pub- 
lican whether  he  would  give  him  credit  till  the  next 
morning.  Having  drunk  up  the  water,  he  took  his  leave 
and  returned  home  in  great  haste,  went  directly  to  the 
anti-chamber  and  asked  the  other  servants,  if  his  master 
had  wanted  him.  Conceiving  that  they  answered  in  the 
negative,  he  appeared  pleased,  said  he  had  been  out  to 
drink  and  found  himself  much  better  for  it.  M.  Pigatti 
then  opened  his  eyes  with  his  fingers,  which  is  another  me- 
thod of  waking  him.  The  next  day,  the  marquis,  having 
some  friends  witVi  him,  Ne°;ritti,  having  as  usual  fallen 

'  O  *  O 

asleep  for  a  short  time,  rose,  took  a  bougie,  went  down 
stairs  to  the  door  of  the  house,  returned  to  the  door  of  his 
master's  apartment,  endeavoured  to  light  his  bougie  at  a 
torch  which  was  commonly  placed  there ;  went  slowly 
higher  up,  stopping  where  it  was  necessary,  passed  through 

the 


HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER.  17 

the  anti-chamber  and  went  to  the  door  of  the  dining-room, 
to  light  as  usual  the  company  who  were  coming  out  of  it ; 
then  laid  the  cloth  for  his  mistress,  in  the  same  manner 
as  before,  but  with  this  particular  circumstance,  that  he 
did  not  look  for  the  little  table  in  the  anti-chamber,  but 
in  a  back  room  to  which  he  knew  it  had  been  removed. 
After  this  he  went  into  the  kitchen,  took  some  nuts  which 
had  been  put  aside  for  him,  cracked  them  with  his  teeth 
and  began  to  eat  them.  Meanwhile  some  person  stopped 
the  key-hole  in  the  lock  of  the  buffet,  which  he  would 
have  to  open  in  order  to  put  up  the  table  cloth.  He  soon 
went  to  it  for  that  purpose,  and  finding  some  obstacle 
which  he  imagined  was  occasioned  by  the  hollow  of  the 
key,  he  struck  it  against  the  floor,  to  get  out  the  dirt> 
which  he  supposed  to  be  in  it-  Still  finding  the  same 
resistance,  he  went  and  looked  for  a  small  piece  of  stick 
which  he  put  several  times  into  the  pipe  of  the  key.  Du- 
ring this  operation  the  obstacle  was  removed  from  the 
lock,  and  lie  opened  the  buffet. 

He  then  returned  to  the  kitcken,  where  he  called  the 
cook  by  his  name,  asked  him  for  a  pinch  of  snuff,  and 
requested  that  he  would  lend  him  a  dadeici  (a  small  piece 
of  money)  saying  he  could  not  live  without  a  glass  of  good 
wine.  He  promised  to  repay  it  at  the  end  of  the  week, 
when  he  had  a  month's  wages  to  receive.  The  cook  ac- 
cordingly lent  it  to  him.  He  put  it  into  his  pocket,  went 
into  the  anti-chamber,  approached  the  chair  on  which 
the  valet  usually  sat,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  go  and 
drink  with  him.  Supposing  that  he  refused,  he  pressed 
him  in  various  ways,  either  by  words  or  signs,  always 
speaking  very  low,  as  if  that  the  other  servants  might 
not  hear  him.  At  leno-th  conceiving  that  he  had  succeed- 

o  o 

ed  in  his  persuasions,  he  took  the  way  towards  the  public- 
house,  where  he  called   for   twice   the  usual  quantity  of 
wine.     When  it  was  brought  he  filled    a   glass,  presented 
Eccentric,   No.  1.  D  it 


18  HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER. 

it  to  his  friend,  and  afterwards  drank  to  bis  health  ;  but 
he  took  no  more  than  exactly  the  half  which  came  to 
his  share. 

He  soon  afterwards  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  and 
not  finding  the  money,  which  had  been  slily  picked  out 
of  it,  as  soon  as  it  was  lent  him,  he  flew  into  a  passion, 
sought  in  all  his  pockets,  which  he  turned  inside  out, 
and  being  still  unable  to  find  it,  he  begged  the  valet  to 
discharge  the  reckoning,  saying  he  would  repay  him. — 
On  his  return  home,  he  related  the  adventure  to  the 
cook,  turned  out  all  his  pockets  again,  shewed  that  in 
which  he  had  put  the  money,  took  a  lamp,  and  with  his 
face  towards  the  ground,  sought  about  in  all  the  places 
where  he  had  been.  He  rummaged  the  third  time  in  his 
pockets,  into  one  of  whicli  a  person  present  put  a  felippo, 
(another  kind  of  coin.)  This  piece  he  touched  several 
times  without  taking  any  notice  of  it.  A  marchetto  was 
then  dropped  in.  The  moment  he  felt  its  he  took  it  for 
the  dadeici,  being  of  the  same  size,  expressed  his  asto- 
nishment that  he  had  not  found  it  before,  ran  to  the  anti- 
chamber,  requested  the  valet  to  give  him  change,  and 
take  what  he  owed  him.  He  counted  the  rest,  returned 
to  the  kitchen,  and  began  to  sing  for  joy  that  he  had 
paid  his  debt.  It  should  be  observed  that  the  same  day, 
the  valet  had  told  him  if  he  had  an  inclination  to  go  to 
the  public  house  in  the  evening  he  would  accompany 
him. 

When  he  had  finished  dancing  and  singing,  he  asked 
for  snuff.  A  box  was  presented  him  containing  ground 
coffee,  of  which  he  took  a  pinch.  He  then  inquired  of 
one  of  his  fellow  servants  if  he  had  shut  the  windows 
of  an  apartment  up  stairs  ;  after  which  question,  he  ad- 
vanced to  take  up  a  candle,  but  was  deceived  by  the  neck 
of  a  bottle  which  presented  itself  to  his  hand,  and  which 
he  took  for  a  candlestick.  He  ascended  the  stairs,  hold- 


HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER.  19 

ing  the  bottle,  and  finding  the  door  of  the  apartment 
locked,  he  went  down  to  the  valet  for  the  key,  ascended 
again,  opened  the  door,  entered,  set  his  supposed  can- 
dlestick down  on  the  floor,  examined  the  windows  which 
he  found  fastened,  and  commended  the  attention  of  his 
fellow-servant.  In  the  mean  time  a  real  candlestick  was 
put  in  the  place  of  the  bottle  ;  he  took  it  up,  went  out 
of  the  room,  locked  the  door,  carried  the  key  to  its 
place,  and  the  candlestick  into  the  kitchen. 

He  then  went  into  the  anti-chamber,  where  some  one 
struck  his  legs  with  a  cane.  Supposing  it  was  a  dog  be- 
longing to  the  house,  he  only  scolded  at  first,  but  the 
strokes  being  repeated,  he  ran  into  the  kitchen  to  look 
for  a  stick,  and  pursued  the  supposed  dog,  laying  about 
him  with  all  his  might.  As  they  still  continued  to  teaze 
him,  he  at  length  flew  into  a  passion,  swearing  terribly  at 
the  dog,  which  he  imagined  was  between  his  legs.  He 
was  enraged  at  not  being  able  to  find  him.  At  length  he 
took  a  piece  of  bread  out  of  his  pocket,  and  called  the 
dog  by  his  name,  at  the  same  time  keeping  the  stick 
concealed.  This  scene  continued  some  time,  after  which 
a  muff  was  thrown  him,  which  he  took  for  the  dog.  He 
flew  upon  it,  discharging  his  fury  both  in  words  and 
blows.  When  he  had  given  vent  to  his  passion,  he  was 
awaked. 

M.  Pigatti  likewise  observed  this  man  the  two  follow- 

O 

inf  nights.  The  principal  actions  which  he  saw,  and 
the  circumstances  which  probably  occasioned  them,  were 
as  follow  : 

The  day  preceding  the  second  of  these  nights,  the 
tutor  of  the  Marquis's  sons  had  been  conversing  with 
Kegritti  concerning  what  he  was  accustomed  to  do  in 
his  sleep,  and  said  to  him,  "  Make  me  a  soup  to-night, 
and  bring  it  to  my  apartment,  and  I  will  give  you  some- 
thing to  drink."  Negritti  fell  asleep,  as  usual,  then  rose 

D  2  from 


20  HISTORY    OF    A    SLEEP    WALKER. 

from  the  chair  on  which  he  had  heen  sitting,  complained 
that  he  was  very  cold,  shivered,  stamped  with  his  feet 
upon  the  floor,  and  gave  other  marks  of  the  inconve- 
nience which  he  felt. 

He  then  went  down  into  the  kitchen  to  prepare  the 
supper,  saying  he  would  trick  the  tutor,  and  went  into 
the  anti-chamber  to  tell  the  valet  the  same  thing.  He 
returned  to  the  kitchen,  took  his  supper,  and  while  he 
was  eating,  several  times  muttered  some  words  relative  to 
the  trick  he  intended  to  play.  When  he  had  done,  he 
returned  to  the  anti-chamber,  and  endeavoured  to  per- 
suade the  valet  to  tjo  with  him.  When  he  imagined 

G  o 

that  he  had  gained  his  point,  he  went  to  the  preceptor, 
and  politely  requested  him  to  perform  his  promise.  The 
latter  gave  him  a  small  piece  of  money.  He  thanked 
him,  went  away,  called  the  valet,  and  taking  him  by 
the  arm,  led  him  to  the  public-house.  Here,  while  they 
were  drinking  their  wine,  he  related  very  circumstantially 
how  he  had  duped  the  tutor,  laughed  heartily,  and 
drank  several  times  to  the  tutor's  health.  This  diversion 
being  over,  he  paid  for  his  companion,  and  returned 
home  with  him. 

Though  M.  Pigatti  had  observed  this  sleep-walker  five 
successive  nights,  he  likewise  watched  him  on  several 
other  occasions.  He  remarked  that  each  time  he  per- 
formed some  new  action,  and  was  convinced  that  sight, 
hearing,  taste,  and  smell,  were  senses  whose  functions 
were  suspended  in  him  at  such  times.  Not  only  diffe- 
rent kinds  of  food  were  alike  to  him,  but  the  loudest  noise, 
or  a  light  brought  so  near  his  eyes,  as  to  scorch  his  eye- 
brows, or  the  tickling  of  a  feather  in  his  nostrils  pro- 
duced no  effect  upon  him.  His  touch,  on  the  contrary, 
was  sometimes  extremely  delicate,  but  at  others  it  was 
equally  gross. 

MIR  A- 


L     21      j 

MIRACULOUS    PRESERVATION. 

EAR  the  road  leading  from  Cromford  to  Wirksworth, 
in   the  county   of    Derby,   is   a  mine  called    Godbehere's 
Founder,   in   which   the  following  remarkable   event  oc- 
curred  at  the  commencement  of   the  year  1797. — Two 
miners,  named   Job  Boden,  and  Anthony   Pearson  went 
into  the  mine  on   the   morning  of  the    13th    of  January, 
and  while  they  were  at  work,  Boden  at  the  depth  of  forty- 
four   yards,  and    Pearson    at    the  depth  of   twenty,  the 
earth    above    them,    together    with    a  quantity  of    water, 
suddenly  rushed  in,  and   filled   the  mine  to    the  depth  of 
about  fifty-four  yards.     The  other   miners    immediately 
began   to  draw    out    the  rubbish  in  search   of  their  lost 
companions,  and   on  the   third    day   after,    Pearson  was 
discovered   dead,    in    an   upright    posture.     The    miners 
would  now  have   discontinued  their  exertions,  as    there 
seemed   little    probability  of  their  labour  being    of   any 
avail ;  but  being  encouraged   to  proceed,  (chiefly  by  the 
influence    and  persuasions    of    Charles    Hurt,    Esq.    of 
Wirksworth,)    they    at   length    discovered    Boden,   about 
three    o'clock   in    the    morning  of   the    twentieth ;    and 
though   he   had   not    received   any  kind  of   nourishment 
during  the  eight  days  of   his  confinement,  he  was  still 
living,  but  greatly  emaciated.     On  being  taken  out,  and 
treated  with   proper  care,  he  so  far  recovered,  as  to  be 
able  to  return  to  his  work  in  the  space  of  fourteen  weeks, 
and   is    now  alive  and  well,  having  several   children,  one 
of  whom  was   born  within  a   twelvemonth  after  the  acci- 
dent. 

To  render  the  particulars  of  this  extraordinary  escape 
more  intelligible,  it  should  be  observed,  that  the  en- 
trance to  the  mine  is  by  a  perpendicular  shaft,  forty-four 
yards  deep,  from  the  bottom  of  which  extends  a  yait,  or 
drift,  (a  passage  in  an  horizontal  direction,)  eight  yards 

in 


22  MIRACULOUS  PRESERVATION. 

in  length,  at  the  end  of  which  descends  a  second  shaft, 
(or,  as  the  miners  term  it,  a  turn)  to  the  depth  of  sixteen 
yards.  At  the  bottom  of  this  is  another  gait,  about 
twelve  yards  in  length,  from  the  extremity  of  which 
another  shaft  extends  to  the  depth  of  nearly  twenty-four 
yards.  At  the  top  of  every  shaft  a  windlass  was  placed, 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  up  whatever  might  be  ex- 
tracted from  the  mine  ;  and  Pearson's  employment  was 
to  draw  up  to  the  top  of  the  second  shaft,  the  ore,  &c. 
that  was  obtained  by  Boden  at  the  bottom. 

At  the  distance  of  seventy  yards  from  the  entrance  to 
the  mine,  was  a  pool  of  water,  which,  though  generally 
containing  but  a  small  quantity,  had,  at  the  time  of  the 
accident,  been  much  increased  through  wet  weather. 
The  ground  between  the  mine  and  the  pool,  had  been 
undermined  in  searching  for  lead  ore  ;  and  it  is  supposed 
that  the  additional  weight  of  water  over  the  vacuity,  had 
forced  down  the  earth,  which  filled  the  mine  to  the 
depth  of  ten  yards  in  the  second  shaft.  As  the  earth 
that  rushed  in,  descended  below  Pearson's  station  at  the 
mouth  of  this  shaft,  he  was  consequently  jammed  in 
there,  and  was  discovered  dead,  as  already  mentioned. 
The  remarkable  circumstance,  that  the  rubbish  did  not 
sink  into  the  mine  so  low  as  to  reach  Boden,  but  stopt  in 
its  descent  a  few  yards  above  him,  may  in  some  measure 
be  accounted  for,  by  observing,  that  the  part  of  the 
mine  where  its  fall  ended,  was  somewhat  straitened  by 
the  projection  of  a  large  stone,  an  obstacle  which  Boden 
had  often  ineffectually  attempted  to  remove. 

It  appears,  from  a  conversation  lately  held  with  the 
man  thus  strangely  preserved  from  death,  that,  after  con- 
templating his  horrid  situation  awhile,  during  the  first 
hours  of  his  imprisonment,  he  lay  down  and  slept.  On 
awakening,  the  idea  of  perishing  for  want  of  food  rushed 
upon  his  mind,  and  he  recollected  that  he  had  four 

pounds 


MIRACULOUS  PRESERVATION.  23 

pounds  of  candles  with  him  in  the  mine:  with  these, 
when  pressed  by  hunger,  he  endeavoured  to  appease  his 
appetite;  but  after  two  or  three  attempts  to  swallow  such 
loathsome  food,  he  desisted;  and  the  candles  were  found 
after  his  release  :  his  thirst,  which  he  had  no  means  of 
alleviating,  was  excessive.  Feeling  extremely  cold,  he 
tried  to  remove  this  inconvenience  by  exercising  himself 
in  turning  the  windlass  at  the  further  end  of  the  drift: 
but  having  the  misfortune  to  let  the  handle  fall  into  the 
shaft  below  he  was  deprived  of  this  resource. 

After  the  space  of  three  or  four  days,  as  he  imagines, 
being  almost  in  a  state  of  distraction,  he  ascended  by 
means  of  a  rope  that  hung  down,  to  that  part  of  the  mine 
where  the  rubbish  had  stopped  in  its  descent ;  and  by  la- 
bouring hard,  caused  a  large  quantity  of  it  to  fall  to  the 
bottom  of  the  shaft.  He  was  employed  in  this  manner, 
when,  at  length,  he  heard  the  miners  at  work  above 
him,  and  by  the  expedient  of  knocking  with  a  stone, 
contrived  to  apprise  them  that  he  was  still  alive.  Though 
it  is  evident,  from  this  circumstance,  that  he  retained 
his  senses,  he  can  hardly  be  persuaded  that  he  was  not 
deprived  of  them,  and  fancies  that  he  was  prompted  to 
make  the  signals  by  some  friendly  voice,  receiving  from 
it  an  assurance,  that  if  he  did  so,  he  should  be  rescued 
from  his  dreadful  prison. 

The  signals  which  he  made  were  heard  by  the  miners 
about  eight  hours  before  they  reached  him  ;  and  he  de- 
scribes himself  as  so  much  terrified  by  their  noise,  and  by 
apprehensions  that  persons  were  coming-  to  murder  him, 
that  he  should  certainly  have  destroyed  himself,  if  he 
had  not  been  closely  confined  by  the  earth  which  he  had 
drawn  down,  and  which  so  filled  the  lower  part  of  the 
shaft,  that  he  was  almost  prevented  from  moving.  In 
the  midst  of  the  panic  that  agitated  him,  he  swallowed 
a  considerable  quantity  of  earth,  which  was  afterwards 

expelled 


24  REMARKABLE    DISCOVERY    OF    MURDER. 

expelled  by  proper  remedies.  He  complained  most  that 
his  legs  were  benumbed  and  dead,  but  their  natural  heat 
being  restored  by  friction,  no  bad  consequences  ensued. 
When  the  accident  happened,  he  was  forty-nine  years  of 
age,  and  then  weighed  upwards  of  twelve  stone  ;  but 
imagines  that  he  was  7'educed  to  half  that  weight  by  his 
confinement  in  the  mine  ;  yet,  as  he  was  not  weighed, 
this  cannot  be  affirmed  with  certainty.  The  anniversary 
of  his  deliverance  from  his  subterraneous  prison,  he  re- 
gards as  a  day  of  thankfulness  and  jubilee;  and  surely 
few  individuals  have  ever  had  more  reason  than  this  man 
to  express  their  gratitude  to  a  protecting  Providence. 


A    REMARKABLE    DISCOVERY    OF    MURDER. 

To  the  Editor. 
SIR, 

Having  lately  found  among  mj  papers,  the  following  attestation,  which,  on 
account  of  its  very  extraordinary  nature  appeared  to  be  worthy  of  filling 
a  vacant  corner  in  your  amusing  miscellany,  1  have  transmitted  it  to  you 
for  insertion,  if  it  should  be  deemed  worthy  of  that  honour. 

I  am,  &c. 
LONDON,  Nov.  10th,  1804.  AMERICANUS. 


o 


N  the  22d  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1767,  I,  Johannes  Demarest,  Coroner  of  the  county  of 
Bergen,  and  Province  of  New  Jersey,  was  present,  at 
view  of  the  dead  body  of  one  Nicholas  Tuers,  then  lying 
dead,  together  with  the  jury,  which  I  summoned  to  en- 
quire into  the  death  of  the  said  Nicholas  Tuers.  At 
that  time  a  negro  man,  belonging  to  Hendrick  Chris- 
tians Zabriskie,  was  suspected  of  having  murdered  the 
said  Tuers,  but  there  was  no  proof  of  it,  and  the  negro 
denied  it.  I  asked  him  if  he  was  not  afraid  to  touch 
Tuers.  He  said  no,  he  had  not  hurt  him,  and  imme- 
diately came  up  to  the  corpse,  then  lying  in  the  coffin  ; 

and 


TWO  ANECDOTES  OF  LONGEVITY.  25 

and  then  Staats  Storm,  one  of  the  jurors,  said,  "  I  am 
not  afraid  of  him,"  and  stroked  the  dead  man's  face  with 
his  hand,  which  made  no  alteration  in  the  dead  per- 
son, and  (as  I  did  not  put  any  faith  in  any  of  those 
trials)  rny  back  was  turned  towards  the  dead  body,  when 
the  jury  ordered  the  negro  to  touch  the  dead  man's  face 
with  his  hand,  and  then  I  heard  a  cry  in  the  room,  of 
the  people  saying,  "  He  is  the  man  ;"  and  I  was  desired 
to  come  to  the  dead  body,  and  was  told  that  the  said 
negro  Harry  had  put  his  hand  on  Tuers's  face,  and  that 
the  blood  immediately  run  out  at  the  nose  of  the  dead 
man  Tuers.  I  saw  the  blood  on  his  face,  and  ordered 
the  negro  to  rub  his  hand  again  on  Tuers's  face  ;  he  did 
so,  and  immediately  the  blood  ran  out  of  the  said  Tuers's 
nose  at  both  nostrils,  near  a  common  table  spoonful  at 
each  nostril,  as  well  as  I  could  judge.  Whereupon  the 
people  all  charged  him  with  being  the  murderer,  but  he 
denied  it  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  confessed  that  he 
had  murdered  the  said  Nicholas  Tuers,  by  first  striking 
him  on  the  head  with  an  axe,  and  then  driving  a  wooden 
pin  in  his  ear  ;  though  afterwards  he  said  he  struck  a  se- 
cond time  with  his  axe,  and  then  held  him  fast  till  be 
had  done  struggling;  when  that  was  done  he  waked  some 
of  the  family,  and  said  Tuers  was  dying  he  believed. 

JOHANNES  L)EMAREST  COR. 


TWO  ANECDOTES  OF  LONGEVITY. 

the  12th  of  October  1777,  died,  on  the  Heath  near 
Stourbridge  in  Worcestershire,  Francis  Wilkes,  a  day 
labourer,  aged  109  years.  He  enjoyed  a  perfect  state  of 
health  till  within  two  days  of  his  decease,  could  see  to 
read  without  spectacles,  and  his  hearing  and  almost  every 
other  faculty  were  very  little  impaired,  considering  his 
age. 

Eccentric,  No.  I.  i-:  January 


26  REMARKABLE    CHARACTERS. 

January  1760,  died,  at  Great  Dunmow  in  the  county  of 
Essex,  aged  105,  William  Wright,  Labourer.  He  had  had 
four  wives,  seventeen  children,  thirty-six  grand-children, 
and  eleven  great  grand-children,  all  of  whom  were  pre- 
sent at  his  burial.  He  retained  his  senses  till  one  day  of 
his  death,  and  was  never  blooded,  nor  even  took  a  dose 
of  physic  in  his  life. 


EXTRAORDINARY  DEATH. 

Peter  Cox,  aminer,  was  drinking  at  the  Three  Com- 
passes in  Redruth,  Cornwall,  on  the  15th  of  February  1796, 
he,  in  a  fit  of  inebriety,  blasphemed  the  Evangelists,  and 
wished  perdition  to  all  the  kings  of  the  earth,  when  on 
a  sudden  his  jaw  became  locked,  and  he  died  on  the  spot 
in  the  most  excruciating  torments.  Pic  left  a  pregnant 
widow  and  four  helpless  infants  behind  him.  A  curious 
circumstance  occurred  in  consequence  of  his  sudden 
death  ;  the  rector  of  the  parish  to  which  he  belonged' 
absolutely  refused  him  Christian  burial,  but  a  neighbour- 
ing clergyman  being  less  fastidious  admitted  his  remains 
to  be  deposited  in  the  accustomed  manner. 


REMARKABLE  CHARACTERS. 

IN  December  1799,  died,  at  Chiddingly  in  Sussex,  aged 
64  years,  Mr.  William  Elphich,  a  very  great  lover  of 
bell-ringing.  Mr.  Elphich  declared,  a  short  time  before 
his  death,  that  by  a  calculation  he  had  made,  he  found 
he  had  stood  under  the  treble-bell  at  Chiddingly  church 
8766  hours  (more  than  one  whole  year's  space)  and  that 
in  the  course  of  forty  years,  he  had  travelled  more  than 
10,000  miles  in  pursuit  of  his  favourite  amusement. 

In  February  1795,  died,  in  the  county  of  Anglesey,    in 
the  75th  year  of  his  age,  Mr.    William   Evans,  who  was 

upwards 


INSTANCES   OF   RESUSCITATION.  27 

upwards  of  forty  years  the  principal  clerk  in  the  protho- 
notary's  office  for  the  counties  of  Anglesey,  Carnarvon, 
and  Merioneth,  and  well  known  to  all  counsel  and  prac- 
titioners for  his  eccentricity  of  character.  He  had  been 
spending  the  evening  previous  to  his  death  with  a  few 
boon  companions,  one  of  whom  is  said  to  have  had  recourse 
to  that  mistaken  joke,  that  bastard  species  of  wit,  an  in- 
fusion of  jalap  in  the  beverage,  which  operated  so  power- 
fully on  the  constitution  of  poor  Evans,  that  he  literally 
died  of  a  diarrhoea.  Among  other  peculiarities,  he  was 
a  sort  of  epicure  in  wigs  and  walking  sticks!  and  for  many 
years  back  had  been  so  laborious  in  enlarging  both  his 
wiggery  and  sticker//,  that  he  left  a  competent  num- 
ber for  the  heads  and  hands  of  all  the  ancient  gentlemen  of 
taste  in  the  principality.  In  the  early  part  of  his  life  he 
felt  a  tender  passion  for  three  amiable  fair  ones,  and. 
as  an  abundant  proof  of  the  warmth  of  his  attachment, 
even  till  death,  he  has,  among  other  peculiar  bequests, 
left  to  each  of  these  virgin  pullets  both  wisdom  and  sup- 
port, namely,  a  wig  and  a  walking-stick. 


EXTRAORDINARY  INSTANCES  OF  RESUSCITATION. 

To    the  Editor  of   the    Eccentric  Museum. 
SIR, 

Perceiving  your  intention  of  commencing  a  Miscellany  under  the  title  of 
the  Eccentric  Museum,  and  that  its  plan  embraces  the  curious  investiga- 
tions of  nature,  in  al!  its  departments,  I  beg  leave  through  its  medium  to 
offer  for  the  perusal  of  your  readers,  the  following  account  of  instances 
of  Resuscitation  which  have  happened  in  this  country.  Should  you  judge 
them  proper  for  insertion  in  your  first  number,  you  shall  soon  hear  again 

from 

Your  well  Wisher. 

D.  B.  L. 
NOTTINGHAM,  Nov.  12,   1804. 


A, 


.BOUT   the    year    1350,  a  malefactor    named     Walter 
Wynkbournc,   was   hanged    at   the   Callows  in    Leicester, 

£  2  win* 


28  INSTANCES    OF    RESUSCITATION. 

\vho  being  taken  down  when  supposed  dead,  was  put 
into  a  cart  for  interment  in  St.  Sepulchre's  church-yard, 
in  that  place  ;  but  he  reviving  in  the  cart,  to  the  asto- 
nishment of  the  spectators,  the  attendant  priests  pitying 
the  unhappy  sufferer,  took  him  into  that  church,  as  a 
place  of  safety  from  his  prosecutors,  who  would  have 
taken  him  a  second  time  to  the  fatal  tree.  But  the  king, 
Edward  III.  being  then  with  the  religious  in  Leicester 
Monastery,  upon  an  application,  kindly  pardoned  the 
trembling  criminal,  with  these  words,  Deus  tibidedit  vitam, 
et  nos  tibi  dabimm  cartam.  "  God  hath  given  thee  life, 
and  we  will  give  thee  pardon." 

Dr.  Cheyne  relates  the  following  account  of  Colonel 
Townshend,  a  gentleman  of  honour  and  integrity,  who 
had  for  many  years  been  afflicted  with  a  nephritic  com- 
plaint. His  illness  increasing,  and  his  strength  decay- 
ing, he  came  from  Bristol  to  Bath,  in  a  litter,  in  Autumn, 
the  year  is  not  mentioned,  and  lay  at  the  Bell  Inn. 
Dr.  Baynard  and  I  (Dr.  Cheyne)  were  called  to  him, 
and  attended  him  twice  a  day,  but  his  malady  continuing 
still  incessant  and  obstinate  against  all  remedies,  we 
despaired  of  his  recovery.  While  he  was  in  this  condition 
he  sent  for  us  one  morning  :  we  waited  on  him  with 
Mr.  Skrine,  his  apothecary.  We  found  his  senses  clear 
and  his  mind  calm  :  his  nurse  and  several  servants  were 
about  him.  He  told  us  he  had  sent  for  us  to  give 
some  account  of  an  odd  sensation  he  had  for  some  time 
observed,  and  felt  in  himself,  he  could  die  or  expire 
when  he  pleased,  and  yet  by  an  effort,  or  some  how,  he 
could  come  to  life  again,  which  he  had  sometimes 
tried  before  he  sent  for  us.  We  heard  this  with  sur- 
prise ;  but  as  it  was  not  to  be  accounted  for  by  common 
principles,  we  could  hardly  believe  the  fact  as  he  re- 
lated it,  unless  he  should  please  to  make  the  experi- 
ment before  us,  which  we  were  unwilling  he  should  do, 

lest 


INSTANCES   OF    RESUSCITATION.  29 

lest,  in  his  weak  condition,  he  might  carry  it  too  far. 
He  continued  to  talk  very  distinctly  and  sensibly  above 
a  quarter  of  an  hour,  about  this  surprising  sensation,  and 
insisted  so  much  on  our  seeing  the  trial  made,  we  were 
at  last  forced  to  comply.  We  all  three  felt  his  pulse 
first;  it  was  distinct,  though  small  and  thready,  and  his 
heart  had  its  usual  beating.  He  composed  himself  on 
his  back,  and  lay  in  a  still  posture  some  time;  while  I 
held  his  right  hand.  Dr.  Baynard  laid  his  hand  on  his 
heart,  and  Mr.  Skrine  held  a  clean  looking-glass  to  his 
mouth.  I  found  his  pulse  sink  gradually,  till  at  last  I 
could  not  feel  any,  by  the  most  exact  and  nice  touch  : 
Dr.  Baynard  could  not  find  the  least  motion  in  his  heart, 
nor  Mr.  Skrine  the  least  soil  of  breath  on  the  bright  mir- 
ror he  held  to  his  mouth.  Then  each  of  us  by  turns 
examined  his  arm,  heart,  and  breath,  but  could  not  by 
the  nicest  scrutiny,  discover  the  least  symptom  of  life  in 
him.  We  reasoned  a  long  time  about  this  odd  appear- 
ance, as  well  as  we  could,  and  all  of  us  judging  it  inex- 
plicable and  unaccountable,  and  finding  he  still  conti- 
nued in  that  condition,  we  began  to  conclude  he  had 
carried  the  experiment  too  far,  and  at  last  were  satisfied 
he  was  actually  dead,  and  were  just  ready  to  leave  him. 
This  continued  about  half  an  hour.  As  we  were  going 
away  we  observed  some  motion  about  the  body,  and 
upon  examination,  found  his  pulse,  and  the  motion  of 
his  heart,  gradually  returning ;  he  began  to  breathe 
gently,  and  speak  softly  ;  we  were  astonished  to  the  last 
degree  at  this  unexpected  change;  and  after  some  con- 
versation with  him,  and  among  ourselves,  we  went  away 
fully  satisfied  as  to  all  the  particulars  of  this  fact,  but 
confounded  and  puzzled,  and  not  able  to  form  any  rational 
scheme  that  might  account  for  it. 

Mr.  William  Cowherd  of  Cartmel,  in  Lancashire,  on  the 
first  (Tuesday    in    June,    17?8,    apparently    died  :    some 

methods 


30  INSTANCES   OF   RESUSCITATION. 

methods  were  tried,  and  a  mirror  was   frequently  held   to 
his  nostrils,  in  order    to   discover    whether    there    were 
any  remains  of   life ;    at  last  the  person   was   pronounced 
by  every  body  to  be  dead  ;    and  the   nurse  as  usual  pro- 
ceeded to  lay  him  out;  but  his  brother,  having   read   Mr. 
Hawes'    address    to   the    public,    insisted    that    the    body 
should  be  put  between  hot  blankets,   and  the  room  kept 
warm,  &c.     In  about  five  hours,  a  deep  groan  was  heard, 
and  other  signs  of  returning  life  appeared,  a  very  weak 
pulse   was  observed,  and  the  person  revived    gradually, 
and  was  once  nso:e  restored  to  his  friends  and  to  society. 
In  July   1794,  a  man  named    Isaac  Rooke,  who  had 
been  discharged  from  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  in  Lon- 
don, and  was  on  his  way  from  thence  to  Chesterfield,    (to 
visit  his  brother  at  that  place)  was  found  in   a  close   near 
Nottingham,  to  all  appearance  dead.      Assistance  being 
procured,  he  was  taken  to  St.  Peter's  Church,  and   there 
laid  out  upon  a  board,  and  notice  given  to  the  Coroner, 
in  order  that  a  jury  might  be  summoned    to  sit   over    the 
body;   when  just  as  the  people  were  going  to  leave   him, 
one   of   them   perceived   his  belly  to   move  a   little,  and 
upon  feeling  his   pulse,  it  was  found  to  beat  very   strong, 
on  which  he  was  immediately  taken  into   a  public-house, 
put  into  a  warm  bed,   and  proper   methods  used  for  his 
recovery,   which   was    happily   effected  ;     and    the    man 
proceeded  on  his  journey  in  a  few  days. — It  appeared   by 
his  own  account  after  his  recovery,  that  he  was  in   a   con- 
vulsion  fit,  to   which  he  is  very  subject,  and    has   been 
bled  for  the  same  a  great  many  times. — He  declared   that 
it  was  but  a  short  time  before  the  above  time  lhat  he  was 
laid  in  a  coffin,  and  had  every  thing  prepared  for  his  fu- 
neral, when  he  was  perceived  to  breathe,  which  prevented 
his   being   unhappily    buried   alive.      He    ever  after   the 
last  fit  carried  a  written  paper  in   his   pocket,   directing 

how 


LONGEVITY    OF      A  HAWK.  31 

how  he  must  be  treated  in  case  of  a  return  of  his  com- 
plaint. 

In  December  1795,  the  master  of  the  work-house  at 
Sutton-Coldneld,  in  Warwickshire,  went  to  one  of  the 
magistrates  of  that  town,  to  inform  him  that  a  dead  man 
lay  upon  the  Coldfield,  and  to  enquire  what  he  was  to  do  : 
The  magistrate  directed  him  to  take  a  cart,  and  fetch  the 
body  to  the  workhouse,  but  not  to  strip  it  until  the  Coro- 
ner had  sat  upon  it.  These  directions  he  obeyed,  and 
the  body  was  laid  by  the  side  of  a  dead  one  already  in 
the  house.  A  little  time  afterward?,  curiosity  led  some 
of  the  poor  children  to  go  and  look  at  the  dead  man, 
when  they  discovered  the  unstripped  one  to  breathe,  and 
a  surgeon  being  sent  for,  animation  was  in  a  few  hours 
restored,  and  the  next  day  the  man,  who  travelled  the 
country,  proceeded  on  his  journey.  He  was  subject  to 
fits  ;  but  it  was  a  very  fortunate  circumstance  for  him 
that  the  magistrate  was  applied  to,  otherwise  the  body 
would  have  been  stripped,  and  placed,  according  to  cus- 
tom, in  the  belfrey, — unnoticed,  perhaps,  for  some  days  ! 


LONGEVITY  OF  A  HAWK. 


I 


N  the  beginning  of  September  1792,  a  paragraph  ap- 
peared in  several  newspapers,  mentioning  that  a  hawk 
had  been  found  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  brought 
from  thence  by  one  of  the  India  ships,  having  on  its  neck 
a  gold  collar,  on  which  were  engraven  the  following- 
words  : 

•'  This  goodlie  Hawk  doth  belong  to  his  Most  Excellent 
''  Majestie,  James  Kinge  of  England,  A.  D.  1610." 

On  seeing  this  account,  an  anecdote   immediately  oc- 
curred to  me,  which  I  had  lately  met  with  in  a  curious 
old  manuscript,  containing  some  remarks    and   observa- 
tions 


32  LONGEVITY    OF    A    HAWK. 

tions  on  the  migration  of  birds,  and  their  flying  to  tar 
distant  regions  ;  and  which,  if  you  think  it  may  throw 
any  light  on  a  subject  now  much  attended  to  by  natu- 
ralists, or  confirm  the  opinion  of  some,  respecting  the 
longevity  of  birds  of  prey,  it  is  much  at  your  service. 
The  words  from  my  author  are  as  follow  :  "  And  here  1 
call  to  mind  a  story  of  our  Anthony  Weldon,  in  his 
Court  and  Character  of  King  James ;  "  The  king,"  saith 
he,  "  being  at  Newmarket,  delighted  much  to  fly  his 
goshawk  at  herons;  and  the  manner  of  the  conflict  was 
this;  the  heron  would  mount,  and  the  goshawk  would 
get  much  above  it ;  then,  when  the  hawk  stooped  at  the 
game,  the  heron  would  turn  up  its  belly,  and  receive 
him  with  his  claws  and  sharp  bill,  which  the  hawk  per- 
ceiving, would  dodge  and  pass  by,  rather  than  endanger 
itself.  This  pastime  being  over,  both  the  hawk  and  the 
heron  would  mount  again,  to  the  utmost  of  their  power, 
till  the  hawk  would  be  at  another  attempt,  and  after  divers 
such  assaults,  usually  by  some  lucky  hit  or  other,  the 
hawk  would  bring  her  down  :  but  one  day,  a  most  ex- 
cellent hawk  being  at  the  game  in  the  king's  presence, 
mounted  so  high  with  his  game,  that  both  hawk  and  he- 
ron got  out  of  sight,  and  were  never  seen  more  ;  enquiry 
was  made,  not  only  all  over  England,  but  in  all  the 
foreign  princes'  courts  of  Europe,  the  hawk  bearing  the 
king's  jesses,  and  marks  sufficient,  whereby  it  might  be 
known,  but  all  their  enquiries  proved  ineffectual." 

From  the  above  statement,  there  is  every  reason  to 
think,  that  the  Hawk  lost  at  Newmarket,  and  that  brought 
from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  were  one  and  the  same 
bird.  If  this  be  the  case,  the  bird  in  question  must  have 
lived  nearly  two  centuries,  which  is  a  much  longer  period 
than  we  have  ever  heard  of  one  of  that  species  attaining 
to. 

SOME 


/  '/  '   -   X      ' 

/••/••<•/•/////<••  f  //  1Jt(//r'  f//  //i<~  '   '/t't//,J.>   />  C/l  >ttnp/f>l 

\  'p\v;i  I'ds  of  20 \* f^a'S  . 


[     33     ] 

SOME    PARTICULARS    RELATIVE    TO    THE    ECCENTRIC 
JOSEPH    CAPPER,    ESQ. 

With  a  Plate  from  an  original  Dr  caving. 

JL  OR  a  circumstantial  account  of  this  gentleman,  we  re- 
fer our  readers  to  p.  478,  of  the  second  volume  of  that 
popular  work,  Kirby's  Wonderful  and  Scientific  Museum, 
lately  completed ;  we  doubt  not  but  the  purchasers  of 
that  publication  will  be  highly  gratified  with  the  striking 
likeness  of  this  original  character  which  we  now  present. 

We  have  been  favoured,  by  persons  who  knew  Mr. 
Capper  intimately,  with  the  following  additional  parti- 
culars concerning  him  : — It  is  well  known  to  every  reader 
of  classic  taste,  that  the  Roman  emperor  Domitian, 
though  the  brother  of  the  excellent  Titus,  was  accus- 
tomed to  amuse  himself  for  hours  together  with  destroy- 
ing flies.  Mr.  Capper's  antipathy  to  those  insects  has 
already  been  noticed,  and  for  this  reason,  the  company 
with  whom  he  used  to  associate  at  the  Horns,  gave  him 
the  appellation  of  Domitian. 

A  mischance  which  befel  him  in  the  indulgence  of 
this  fly-killing  propensity,  which  he  pursued  with  all  the 
eagerness  of  a  youthful  sportsman,  is  thus  related  : — 
After  dinner  he  regularly  took  a  pint  of  wine,  and  always 
had  a  glass,  a  tumbler,  and  a  bowl  placed  on  the  table 
before  him,  and  was  accustomed  to  cover  his  wine  with 
a  piece  of  paper,  to  prevent  his  enemies,  the  flies,  from 
quaffing  the  precious  beverage.  One  day  he  happened 
to  leave  the  room,  and  during  his  absence  a  gentleman 
laid  on  the  paper  a  small  piece  of  snuff  of  candle.  Cap- 
per, on  his  return,  mistaking  it  for  a  fly,  said  to  himself, 
"Aha!  now  I  shall  have  you;"  and  cautiously  creeping 
towards  the  table,  with  his  stick  discharged  such  a  blow- 
as  shivered  his  glasses  into  a  thousand  pieces,  to  the  no 
small  diversion  of  the  company. 

Eccentric,  No.  2.  r  Though. 


34  CATACOMBS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    SYRACUSANS. 

Though  his  income  was  far  more  than  sufficient  to 
procure  him  all  that  he  wanted  or  desired,  yet  he  still  re- 
tained those  habits  of  economy,  by  which  his  property 
had  been  in  part  acquired.  A  stock-broker  having  once 
done  him  a  favour,  he  promised  him  the  next  commission 
he  should  have  to  eive  in  his  line  of  business.  He  ac- 

O 

cordingly  directed  him  to  buy  for  him  10001.  stock,  which 
order  the  broker  punctually  executed,  and  Capper  paid 
the  amount.  Meeting  with  him  a  few  days  afterwards, 
Capper,  in  the  most  indignant  terms,  upbraided  him  with 
having  given  five-eighths,  when,  at  the  same  time,  stocks 
were  only  three-eighths ;  declaring  he  was  not  fit  to  do 
business,  and  that  he  would  never  give  him  another  job; 
and  he  kept  his  word.  It  should  be  observed  that  the 
stocks  fluctuated  that  day  between  three-eighths  and  three- 
fourths,  and  that  the  broker  had  given  the  price  he 
charged. 

By  his  Will,  dated  July,  1799,  it  appears  that  he  pos- 
sessed 70001.  in  the  three  per  cents.  18,0001.  in  the  four 
per  cents.  10001,  in  the  five  per  cents.  421.  9s.  2d.  in  the 
lone;  annuities,  and  a  bond  for  5001.  His  executors 

O  * 

were,  as  before  stated,  Mr.  Joseph  Dtitton,  of  George 
Street,  Tower  Hill,  and  Mr.  Richard  Dutton  of  Rose- 
mary Lane,  the  latter  of  whom  is  a  Quaker.  We  find, 
that  to  each  of  those  gentlemen,  he  has  left  30001.  and 
not  40001.  as  has  been  reported.  Mr.  George  Dutton 
of  Coddington,  Cheshire,  receives  the  like  sum,  and  the 
remainder  of  his  property  is  distributed  among  his  other 
relations. 


Curious  account  of  the  CATACOMBS  of  the  ancient  SYRA- 
CUSAXS,  and  new  mode  of  disposing  of  the  Dead,  prac- 
tised at  that  place. 

_L  TIE  following  description  of  the  Catacombs,  or  burying 
places  of  the  ancient   Syracusans,  is  thus  given  by  a  late 

intel- 


CATACOMBS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    SYRACUSANS.  OO 

intelligent  traveller: — We  were  conducted  by  an  old 
Capuchin  friar  into  these  celebrated  tombs,  and  were 
obliged  at  the  entrance  to  creep  on  our  hands  and  knees, 
but  we  soon  found  the  place  sufficiently  lofty.  The  streets 
and  alleys  into  which  these  vaults  are  cut,  cross  each 
other  in  every  direction,  and  had  our  guide  extinguished 
his  torch,  we  must  have  remained  in  this  dismal  abode, 
till  relieved  by  the  hand  of  death,  as  it  would  be  very  dif- 
ficult for  a  stranger  to  find  his  way  out,  even  with  a  light ; 
without  it,  impossible.  At  certain  distances  we  came  to 
large  round  chambers,  whose  dome-like  roof  admitted  a 
small  portion  of  light  and  air  from  an  aperture  in  the  up- 
per part.  The  walls  of  these  rooms  were  covered  with  a 
sort  of  stucco,  and  round  them  were  placed,  in  uniform 
directions,  a  number  of  stone  coffins,  like  those  we  saw 
on  each  side  of  the  alleys.  These  were  excavated  from 
the  solid  rock,  and  of  various  dimension?,  some  appear- 
ing scarcely  large  enough  for  a  new-born  infant.  We 
were  informed  that  skeletons  had  been  found  in  some  of 
them,  with  a  piece  of  money  in  their  jaws,  perhaps  to 
pay  the  ferry-man  of  the  Styx  for  their  passage  to  the  re- 
gions of  Pluto. 

We  next  proceeded  to  a  monastery  of  Capuchins  on 
an  eminence  near  the  sea.  It  is  a  neat  and  airy  building, 
placed  on  a  barren  rock,  without  any  appearance  of  vege- 
tation near  it.  But  no  sooner  had  we  paid  our  respects 
to  the  reverend  fathers,  than  we  were  conducted  by  them 
into  subterraneous  gardens,  where  verdure  and  vegetation 
flourished  in  the  highest  degree.  The  scene  appeared 
like  enchantment ;  nor  could  we  at  first  devise  the  cause 
of  it,  till  on  examination  we  discovered  that  they  were 
the  same  sort  of  excavations  as  the  quarries  we  had  before 
visited,  the  soil  of  which  being,  bv  labour  and  cultiva- 
tion, rendered  rich  and  productive,  is  become  a  luxuriant 
orchard  of  orange,  lemon,  and  olive  trees. 

2  The 


36  CATACOMBS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    SYRACUSANS 

The  undercroft  or  cemetery  of  the  monastery  contains 
as  curious  a  scene  as  any  we  had  yet  witnessed.  We  en- 
tered it  by  a  flight  of  steps,  through  a  trap-door  in  the 
nave  of  the  chapel,  and  found  it  as  light  as  the  place  we 
had  just  left,  having  windows  in  the  vaulted  roof.  But 
our  attention  was  immediately  called  off  from  other  mat- 
ters to  an  assemblage  of  venerable  personages  arranged 
along  the  wall,  in  niches  formed  for  the  purpose ;  they 
were  all  dressed  in  the  habit  of  St.  Francis,  and  at  first 
sight  had  the  appearance  of  life ;  but  on  close  examina- 
tion their  skin  appeared  dry,  shrivelled,  and  as  hard  as 
wood.  Some  of  them  had  been  dead  nearly  two  centu- 
ries ;  many  were  decorated  with  long  flowing  beards,  but 
others  had  none,  whether  fallen  off  by  time  or  the  fashion 
of  the  age  they  lived  in  I  cannot  say ;  the  monks  of  the 
present  day  being  distinguished  by  a  profusion  of  that  or- 
nament. Besides  the  bodies  of  the  monks  we  saw  those 
of  the  nobility  and  gentry  who  could  afford  the  expence 
of  this  mode  of  sepulture,  for  the  worthy  monks  do  not 
permit  the  intrusion  of  unhallowed  laity  into  their  society, 
without  receiving,  besides  the  entrance  fee,  a  handsome 
yearly  compensation  for  it,  which  is  paid  in  various  ways. 
Some  contribute  annually  a  wax- candle  of  many  pounds 
weight :  and  should  any  omission  of  the  payment  occur, 
the  unfortunate  ancestor  of  the  defaulter  is  turned  out  of 
his  place  to  make  room  for  another.  These  strangers  are 
generally  habited  in  their  best  suits,  and  are  laid  in  boxes 
with  lids  fastened  by  locks,  which  were  opened  for  our 
inspection  ;  some  of  them  had  bag-wigs,  ruffles  and  laced 
coats,  and  presented  a  frightful  satire  on  human  vanity. 
No  ladies  are  admitted  of  this  silent  party.  The  orna- 
ments of  this  solemn  repository  are  entirely  appropriate  : 
round  the  cornices  and  over  the  altar,  which  has  a  cruci- 
fix on  it,  are  skulls  and  cross  bones,  and  over  the  entrance 
to  the  chapel  is  this  motto,  Commune  mori,  mum  nnlli. 

purcit 


INSTANCE  OF  A  KNIFE  PASSING  THROUGH  THE  BODY.     37 

parcit  honori — "all  men  must  die  ;  death  pays  no  distinc- 
tion to  rank." 

In  a  visit  which  the  writer  paid  in  company  with  Lord 
Nelson,  Sir  William  and  Lady  Hamilton,  &c.  to  a  more 
capacious  cemetery  of  this  kind  near  Palermo,  and  in 
which  the  number  of  bodies  amounted,  as  he  was  inform- 
ed, to  no  less  than  5000,  he  was  shewn  the  manner  of 
preparing  them  to  resist  the  ravages  of  time. — Our  con- 
ductor, says  he,  shewed  us  a  door  of  the  oven  in  which 
these  bodies  were  dried,  and  would  fain  have  invited  the 
ladies  to  see  the  process ;  but  on  entering  they  hastily  re- 
tired ;  and  well  they  might,  for  the  first  object  that  saluted 
their  eyes  was  the  body  of  a  fat  officer  who  had  died 
only  the  day  before  as  he  was  on  duty  at  the  mole.  The 
body  was  extended  on  a  low  stove  and  placed  on  a  sheet, 
seemingly  preparatory  to  the  operation.  When  the  body 
is  properly  prepared,  the  door  of  the  oven  is  carefully 
closed  so  as  to  admit  none  of  the  external  air.  After  re- 
maining six  months  in  this  place,  it  is  sufficiently  dried 
to  be  placed  in  the  niche  or  coffin  as  required  ;  the  skin 
then  appears  dry,  shrivelled  and  hard,  apparently  of  the 
substance  of  tanned  leather. 


A  LITTLE  BOY  who  swallowed  the  BLADE  of  a  KNIFE. 


ATURDAY,  November  10,  1804,  the  son  of  a  Mr.  Norton, 
eight  years  of  age,  at  school  at  Reigate,  Surry,  was 
crossing  a  stile  with  the  blade  of  a  knife  in  his  band,  he 
put  it  into  his  mouth,  and  in  jumping  down  swallowed  it. 
He  however  felt  but  little  pain,  and  bad  not  been  at 
home  many  days,  before  the  sharp  portion  of  steel  passed 
his  bowels.  He  is  now  perfectly  recovered,  and  returned 
to  school. 


[     38     ] 

New   and  (economical   PROCESS  for  producing  LIGHT   or 
ILLUMINATION,  from  SMOKE  alone. 

JL  HE  numerous  discoveries  resulting  from  the  spirit  of 
philosophic  research,  so  generally  diffused  within  these 
few  years,  throughout  the  most  civilised  nations  of  Eu- 
rope, have  undeniably  contributed  to  promote  in  a  high 
degree,  the  comfort  and  conveniencies  of  society.  None 
however  promises  to  be  more  beneficial,  or  of  more  gene- 
ral utility,  than  a  discovery  first  exhibited  at  Paris,  in 
1802,  and  lately  introduced  into  this  country  by  an  in- 
genious artist  who  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  secret, 
and  who  has  for  several  months  exhibited  it  to  the  curio- 
sity of  the  public  at  the  Lyceum  in  the  Strand. 

The  object  of  this  discovery,  which  will  doubtless  form 
an  important  epoch  in  the  annals  of  domestic  oeconomy, 
is  to  produce  light  without  the  aid  of  wax,  oil,  tallow, 
or  any  combustible  now  employed  for  that  purpose.  The 
expence  of  illumination  hoth  to  the  community  in  gene- 
ral, and  to  individuals  in  particular,  is  most  sensibly 
felt  at  the  present  moment,  when  the  materials  employed 
for  that  purpose  have  attained  to  an  unprecedented  price. 
The  public  must  therefore  feel  more  deeply  interested  in 
a  discovery  which  tends  to  reduce  that  expence  to  a  mere 
trifle,  and  to  supply  them  with  a  light  infinitely  superior 
to  that  which  they  have  hitherto  been  accustomed. 

To  explain  the  principle  of  this  important  invention, 
we  shall  give  directions  for  making  an  experiment  on 
such  a  scale,  that  every  one  may  repeat  it,  and  thus  sa- 
tisfy himself  respecting  its  practicability. — Take  a  vessel 
of  any  kind  capable  of  resisting  fire,  into  which  put  some 
common  coal ;  the  vessel  must  then  be  closely  covered, 
or,  in  the  language  of  chemistry,  hermetically  sealed, 
leaving  in  the  cover  a  small  aperture,  just  sufficient  to  re- 
ceive a  tube,  of  any  dimensions,  say  a  tobacco-pipe.  The 

vessel 


LIGHT    PRODUCED    FROM    SMOKE    ALONE.  39 

vessel  must  then  be  placed  on  a  clear  fire  ;  as  soon  as  the 
heat  reaches  the  coal,  it  begins  to  melt  and  run  together 
like  tar.  At  the  same  time  a  vapour  rises  from  the  coal 
and  passes  through  the  tube,  to  the  end  of  which  a  candle 
or  other  light  must  then  be  applied.  The  vapour,  which 
is  of  an  inflammable  nature,  immediately  takes  fire,  and 
continues  to  burn  with  an  extremely  bright  flame,  as  long 
as  any  vapor,  or  gas,  arises  from  the  coal.  The  flame 
produced  from  the  tube  of  a  common  tobacco-pipe,  is 
equal  in  volume  to  that  of  a  large  candle,  but  the  light 
is  much  clearer  and  more  intense. — Having  now  described 
the  process  on  a  small  scale,  it  may  easily  be  imagined 
what  an  effect  may  be  produced  by  an  iron  pot,  from 
which  tubes  of  any  number  and  any  length,  may  convey 
the  inflammable  vapour  to  every  part  of  a  building  of  any 
magnitude  or  extent. 

The  extraordinary  advantages  of  this  method  of  pro- 
ducing light  must  be  obvious  to  the  most  superficial  ob- 
server. In  public  buildings,  manufactories,  light-houses, 
&c.  its  benefits,  when  it  becomes  generally  known,  will 
be  incalculable.  It  should  be  observed  that  by  means  of 
tubes,  either  of  tin,  iron,  or  any  other  material,  the  vapor 
or  gas  may  be  conveyed  to  any  part  of  a  building  where 
light  is  required.  The  expence  with  which  this  method 
of  illumination  is  attended  is  comparatively  insignificant, 
particularly  as  the  coal  employed  in  the  process,  when 
exhausted  of  its  vapour,  is  found  caked  together,  and 
forms  a  solid  mass  of  coke,  which  may  afterwards  be  ap- 
plied to  any  of  the  purposes  for  which  that  material  is 
used. 

After  this  explanation  it  would  be  needless  to  expa- 
tiate on  all  the  applications  which  may  be  made  of  this 
useful  discovery.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the 
ingenuity  of  some  of  our  countrymen,  will  soon  put  the 

public 


40  ACCOUNT    OF    LOHD    CHEDWOllT II. 

public  into  the  enjoyment   of  the  manifold  benefits  that 
may  be  derived  from  it. 

We  cannot  conclude  this  article  without  remarking, 
that  this  new  process  of  producing  light,  tends  to  ex- 
plain phenomena,  sometimes  observed  in  coal  mines.  It 
is  generally  known  that  the  workmen  in  these  mines  are 
frequently  endangered  by  explosions  and  sudden  inflam- 
mations of  the  air  in  certain  parts  of  the  pit,  caused  by 
the  flame  of  a  lighted  candle.  This  is  doubtless  occa- 
sioned by  the  inflammable  vapour  exhaled  by  the  coals, 
which  is  confined  in  those  parts  and  cannot  escape  for 
want  of  air.  It  must  certainly  be  attributed  to  the  same 
cause,  that  coal-pits  have  been  known  to  be  on  fire  for 
several  years  together.  In  this  case  we  may  presume, 
that  the  gas,  while  it  burns,  continues  by  the  heat  to  pro- 
duce a  fresh  supply  of  the  inflammable  vapour,  till  the 
whole  of  the  surface  of  coal  in  the  pit  is  exhausted,  and 
reduced  to  the  state  of  coke,  in  the  same  manner  as  in 
the  experiment  above  described. 


Account  of  LORD  CHEDWORTH  ;   toe/ether  tvitk  an  accurate 
abstract  of  the  WILL  of  that  eccentric  Nobleman. 

A  HIS  remarkable  character  died  at  Ipswich,  October  29, 
1804.  His  eccentric  life  and  the  extraordinary  disposi- 
tion he  has  made  of  his  vast  property,  have  engaged  a 
considerable  share  of  the  public  interest,  and  we  are 
confident  that  our  readers  will  not  be  displeased  with  the 
following  particulars  concerning  him. 

Lord  Chedworth,  Baron  of  Chedworth  in  Gloucester- 
shire, was  born  August  22,  1754,  and  being  the  son  of  a 
younger  brother,  was  designed  for  the  profession  of  the 
law.  He  received  the  rudiments  of  his  education  at  Win- 
chester school,  and  upon  leaving  that  seminary,  pro- 
secuted 


ACCOUNT    OF    LORD    CHEDWORTH.  41 

secuted  his  studies  at  the  university  of  Oxford.  Here  his 
lordship  acquired  that  taste  for  the  classic  literature  of 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  which  he  ever  afterwards  re- 
tained ;  and  by  his  assiduity  in  the  study  of  the  profession, 
he  became  a  learned  and  correct  lawyer. 

When  he  succeeded  to  the  title  on  the  death  of  his 
uncle  in  1781,  he  consequently  abandoned  his  profes- 
sional pursuits.  At  the  same  time  he  manifested  a  high 
sense  of  honor,  by  undertaking  to  discharge  all  the  debts 
left  by  his  father  and  uncle ;  on  which  account  he  denied 
himself  every  enjoyment  that  was  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary, not  even  allowing  himself  a  single  carriage. 

On  an  occasion  when  his  lordship  some  years  since  ex- 
pected the  powerful  support  of  his  family  and  relatives, 
he  found  himself  completely  deserted  by  them.  Ever 
since  that  period  he  has  studiously  avoided  all  intercourse 
with  them,  and  has  carried  his  resentment  so  far  as  to 
bequeath  nearly  the  whole  of  his  vast  property  to 
strangers. 

This  antipathy  was  so  deeply  rooted,  that  he  even 
avoided  associating  with  persons  of  equal  rank  with  him- 
self. Tiiough  possessing  many  good  qualities,  uncom- 
mon learning  and  great  abilities,  he  had  many  foibles 
and  eccentricities,  which  tended  to  obscure  those  brilliant 
qualifications.  Among  these  may  be  reckoned  the  ex- 
treme slovenliness  of  his  person,  which,  in  a  man  of 
rank  and  affluence,  is  certainly  unpardonable.  He  like- 
wise assiduously  courted  the  company  of  some  female  of 
distinguished  beauty  and  accomplishments,  though,  as 
it  is  said,  without  any  criminal  intention.  The  conse- 
quences, however,  were  sometimes  not  less  prejudicial  to  the 
characters  of  those  ladies,  to  whom  he  appears  in  his  will 
to  have  endeavoured  to  make  amends  for  the  injury  which 
they  might  have  sustained  from  his  indiscretion. 

Eccentric,  No.  I.  o  Having 


ACCOUNT    OF    LORD    CIIEDWORTH. 

Having  a  constitution  naturally  infirm  and  nervous, 
his  lordship  was  extremely  retired  in  his  manners  and 
habits.  His  greatest  delight  consisted  in  attending  dra- 
matic representations,  and  in  the  society  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  sock  and  buskin.  In  return,  he  was 
their  zealous  patron  when  living,  and  at  his  death  be- 
queathed ample  legacies  to  his  dramatic  favourites. 

Lord  Chedworth  was  likewise  fond  of  the  sports  of 
Newmarket,  and  an  excellent  judge  of  all  matters  re- 
lating to  the  turf;  but  though  a  member  of  the  rooms 
and  jockey  club,  he  never  mixed  at  the  table  with  the 
company,  but  lived  and  dined  in  the  most  obscure  man- 
ner by  himself. 

As  he  died  a  bachelor,  the  title  is  become  extinct. 
His  estates  are  very  large,  and  free  from  incumbrances. 
Mr.  Wilson,  his  steward  and  solicitor,  shortly  before  his 
death,  obtained  from  him  the  account  of  his  former 
steward,  by  which  a  very  large  sum  was  brought  forth. 
The  legacies  left  by  him  amount  to  upwards  of  240,0001. 
and  Mr.  Penrice  the  residuary  legatee,  will,  it  is  sup- 
posed, ultimately  obtain  a  like  sum.  The  whole  of  this 
vast  property  Lord  Chedworth  has  bequeathed,  with  the 
exception  of  25,0001.  to  persons  in  no  respect  related  to 
him.  A  gentleman  who,  on  account  of  his  great  intimacy 
with  his  lordship,  and  his  having  rendered  him  important 
services  in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  was  expected  to  share 
in  his  liberality,  had  displeased  him  by  too  frequently  and 
perhaps  too  freely  representing  the  impropriety  of  his 
neglect  of  dress  and  not  associating  more  with  people  of 
his  own  rank  and  condition  in  life. 

As  his  Will  has  excited  considerable  interest,  we  sub- 
join a  faithful  and  accurate  abstract  of  it  ;  the  whole  of 
it  was  written  entirely  with  his  own  hand,  in  a  style  that 
proves  him  to  have  been  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 
practical  part,  of  the  profession  which  he  had  in  early  life 

adopted. 


AVILL      OF     LORD    CHEDWROTH.  43 

adopted.  It  is  contained  on  one  side  of  a  sheet  of  elephant 
paper.  It  has  been  said  that  his  Lordship's  relations  are 
extremely  dissatisfied  with  this  disposition  of  his  proper- 
ty, and  intend  to  contest  his  Will;  but  we  can  assure  our 
readers  that  this  report  is  destitute  of  foundation,  as  the 
Will  has  been  already  proved. 

THE  WILL. 

In  the.  name  of  God,  Amen.  I,  John,  Lord  Chedworth, 
Baron  of  Chedworth,  in 'the  County  of  Gloucester,  being 
of  sound  and  disposing  mind,  make  this  my  last  Will  and 
Testament,  hereby  revoking  all  former  Wills  and  Testa- 
ments by  me  made  : 

First,  I  resign  my  Soul  into  the  hands  of  Almighty 
God,  in  humble  hope  of  the  forgiveness  of  my  sins, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  on  whose  merits  I  alone  rely  for 
salvation. 

He  wills  that  his  body  be  decently  interred  without 
expensive  parade. 

He  gives  and  devises  all  his  lands,  tenements,  mes- 
suages, and  hereditaments,  and  all  his  estates  and  inte- 
rests, of  what  kind  or  nature  soever,  situate  lying  and 
being  in  the  several  counties  of  Gloucester  and  Wilts, 
and  also  his  dwelling  house  in  Brook-street,  Ipswich,  in 
the  county  of  Suffolk,  with  the  garden  and  all  appurte- 
nances thereunto  belonging,  to  Richard  Wilson,  of  Lin- 
coln's Inn  Fields,  in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  Esq.  and 
Thomas  Penrice,  of  Great  Yarmouth,  in  the  county  of 
Norfolk,  gentleman,  or  the  survivors  of  them,  and  to 
the  heirs,  or  the  heirs  of  the  survivors  of  them  forever, 
in  trust  to  sell  or  dispose  of  the  same  for  as  much  money 
as  can  be  gotten  for  them. 

o 

He  also  gives  all  his  personal  estate  not  therein  other- 
wise disposed  of,  to  the  said  Richard  Wilson  and  Tho- 
mas Penrice,  in  trut4,  to  apply  the  same,  together  with 

G  2  the 


44  WILL    OF    LORD    CHEDWORTH. 

the  monies  arising  from  the  sale  of  his  'said  real  estates, 

o 

to  the  several  purposes  therein  after  mentioned. 

First,  he  wills  that  all  his  just  debts  be  paid  and  dis- 
charged, and  gives  and  bequeaths  the  following  Lega- 
cies : — 

To  his  revered  uncle  Thomas  White,  of  Tottingstone, 
in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  Esq.  10001.  He  does  not  give 
more  because  he  well  knows  that  at  his  advanced  age, 
and  with  his  regulated  desires,  he  does  not  want  any  ac- 
quisition of  property,  and  trusts  that  he  will  accept  this 
merely  as  a  token  of  the  very  great  gratitude  and  vene- 
ration which  he  feels  towards  him. 

To  the  said  Richard  Wilson,  the  sum  of  15,0001.  on 
condition  that  he  shall  undertake  and  execute  the  office 
of  executor,  and  also  the  several  trusts  therein  mentioned. 

To  the  said  Richard  Wilson,  the  farther  sum  of  50001. 
on  the  like  conditions. 

To  the  said  Thomas  Penrice,  20,0001.  on  the  like  con- 
ditions. 

To  his  cousin  Alexander  Wright,  Esq.  10,0001. 

To  his  cousin  Mary  Daniel,  widow,  10,0001. 

To  the  said  Richard  Wilson  and  Alexander  Wright, 
40001.  in  trust  to  invest  the  same  in  the  Funds  and  apply 
the  interest  thereof  to  the  maintenance  of  his  cousin, 
Wm.  Wright,  Clerk. 

To  the  said  Richard  Wilson  and  Thomas  Penrice,  the 
sum  of  13,0001.  in  trust  to  invest  the  same  in  the  Funds, 
and  pay  the  interest  thereof  to  Richard  Edgar,  Esq.  of 
Gougli  Square,  in  the  city  of  London,  to  be  by  him  ap- 
plied (without  account)  to  the  maintenance  of  his  daughter 
Sarah  Anne  Edgar,  by  his  late  wife,  formerly  Sarah 
Anne  Selby,  of  Ipswich  ;  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  said 
Sarah  Anne  Edgar  at  the  age  of  21  years,  his  will  is,  that 
the  principal  money  be  transferred  immediately  to  the 
said  Sarah  Anne  Edgar. 

To 


WILL    OF    LORD    CHEDWORTH.  45 

To  the  said  Richard  Edgar,    5C01. 

To  Charlotte  Selby,  of  Ipswich,  spinster,  5001. 

To  Lucy  Mary,  the  wife  of  Frederic  Edgar,  Esq.  late 
Lucy  Mary  Selby,  5001. 

To  Mary  Taylor,  widow,  formerly  of  the  Theatre  Royal 
Norwich,  13,0001.  and  until  his  estates  can  be  sold,  and 
the  legacy  paid,  his  will  is,  that  the  Executors  do  pay  the 
said  Mary  3001.  a-year. 

To  Harriet  Taylor,  daughter  of  the  said  Mary  Taylor, 
4,0001. 

To  Fanny  Valentine,  spinster,  sister  of  the  said  Mary 
Taylor,  30001. 

To  the  said  Richard  Wilson  and  Thomas  Penrice, 
13,0001.  in  trust,  to  invest  the  same  in  the  Funds,  and 
pay  the  interest  thereof  to  Mary,  the  wife  of  William 
Howard  of  Bouverie-Street,  near  Fleet  Street,  in  or 
near  the  city  of  London,  to  be  applied  to  the  use  of  the 
said  Mary  Howard,  separate  from  her  husband,  or  without 
being  liable  to  his  debts  or  subject  to  his  controul :  and 
after  the  decease  of  the  said  Mary  Howard,  then  to  pay 
the  principal  money  to  such  person  as  she  the  said  Mary 
Howard  shall  direct  and  appoint:  and  in  case  she  shall 
leave  no  such  testamentary  direction,  then  he  wills  that 
the  said  principal  money  to  be  paid  to  the  said  Wil- 
liam Howard  :  and  in  case  the  said  Mary  Howard 
shall  survive  her  said  husband,  and  should  not  leave  any 
such  testamentary  direction,  then  he  wills  that  the  said 
principal  money  be  paid  to  the  children  of  the  said  Mary 
Howard,  or  in  case  they  should  be  infants,  to  such  person 
or  persons  as  should  be  appointed  guardian  or  guardians 
to  the  said  children. 

To  the  said  William  Howard,  3,0001. 
To  Elizabeth  Forsett,  of  Ipswich,  spinster,  60001. 
To  John  Barney,  of  Ipswich,  merchant,  40001. 
To  Margaret   Lyddon,  Tyson-row,   Kingsland-road,  in 

the 


46  WILL    OF    LORD    CHEDWORTH. 

the  county  of  Middlesex,  widow,  formerly  Margaret  Rix, 
of  Ipswich,  spinster,  30001. 

To  Dorothy  Gooch,  formerly  of  Great  Yarmouth,  in  the 
county  of  Norfolk,  but  now  of  Orford,  in  the  county  of 
Suffolk,  spinster,  60001. 

To  George  Penrice,  natural  son  to  the  said  Thomas 
Pen  rice,  60001. 

To  the  said  Richard  Wilson  and  Thomas  Penrice' 
2,5001.  in  trust,  to  invest  the  same  in  the  Funds,  and  ap- 
ply the  interest  to  the  use  and  behoof  of  Harriet,  the  wife 
of  Walter  Bedel,  formerly  of  Fleet-Street,  London,  linen- 
draper  (formerly  Harriet  Cannister,  spinster)  separate 
and  apart  from  her  husband,  or  being  liable  to  his  debts, 
or  in  any  way  subject  to  his  controul ;  and  for  payment 
of  which  interest,  as  it  becomes  due,  the  receipt  of  said 
Harriet  alone  to  be  sufficient.  And  after  the  decease  of 
the  said  Harriet,  he  wills  that  the  said  principal  money 
shall  be  paid  to  the  children  of  the  said  Harriet ;  or  in 
case  of  their  being  infants,  then  for  their  use  and  behoof, 
to  such  person  or  persons  as  should  be  appointed  their 
guardians,  in  case  the  said  W.  Bedell,  should  not  then  be 
living. 

To  his  good  friend  the  Rev.  Wm.  Lay  ton,  1,3001. 

To  his  sister  Mary  Ann  Lay  ton,  1,3001. 

To  the  Rev.  Thomas  Crompton  (in  token  that  I  am  in 
perfect  amity  with  him,)  10001. 

To  that  illustrious  Statesman  and  true  Patriot,  the  Hon. 
Charles  James  Fox,  30001. 

To  Lydia  Hallum,  spinster,  2001. 

To  Mary,  the  wife  of  James  Royal  Willett,  Esq,  2001. 

To  William  Smith,  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Esq.  2001. 

To  the  Rev.  William  Clerke,  of  Norton  Clerke,  2001. 

To  Susannah  Clerke  and  Charlotte  Clerke,  his  sisters, 
2001.  each. 

To  the  Rev.  Mi.  Glover,  of  the  city   of  Norwich,    2001. 


WILL    OF    LORD    CHEDWORTH.  47 

in  testimony  of  my  sense  of  his  judicious  and  generous 
exertions  in  behalf  of  injured  innocence. 

To  Elizabeth  Edmead,  formerly  of  the  Theatre  Royal, 
Norwich,  1,3001. 

To  John  Powell,  formerly  of  the  same,  and  of  the 
Theatre  Royal,  Drury  Lane,  1,3001. 

To  Edward  Seymour,  otherwise  called  Edward  Hicke- 
ry,  otherwise  called  Edward  Hickery  Seymour,  late  of 
the  Theatre  Royal,  Norwich,  1,3001. 

To  Dr.  Thomson,  2001.  over  and  above  whatever  may 
be  due  to  him  as  a  remuneration  for  his  frequent  attend- 
ances. 

To  Mrs.  Frances  Wood,  2001. 

To  Elizabeth  Ashpool,  spinster,  (5001. 

To  James  Jacques,  of  Great  Yarmouth,  gentleman, 
6001.  in  testimony  of  his  great  respect  for  him. 

To  his  servant,  Avery  Truman,  5001. 

To  his  servant,  Mrs.  Rose  Cockerall,  6001. 

To  his  servant,  William  Lunniss,  GOOl.  in  consideration 
of  the  great  care  and  affectionate  attention  he  had  ex- 
perienced from  them  during  his  illness,  for  which  he  could 
not  be  but  grateful  while  he  lived. 

To  his  late  servant,  William  Clarke  (to  whose  care  and 
attention  he  had  been  much  indebted),  5001. 

To  his  servant,  Susan  Day,  1001. 

To  all  his  servants  who  shall  be  in  his  service  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  two  years  wages  and  mourning. 

To  Mary  Ann  Kent,  formerly  of  the  Theatre  Royal, 
Norwich,  but  now  of  Barnes,  in  Surry,  spinster,  6001. 

To  Matilda  Deer,  spinster,  3001. 

To  his  sister,  Mrs.  Walford,  widow,  3001. 

To  his  respected  friend,  Thomas  Green,  Esq.  his  head 
of  Vandyck,  by  himself,  with  such  other  of  his  paintings 
and  prints  as  he  might  choose  to  accept. 

To  James  Pulham,  of  Woodbridge,  gent.  6001. 

His 


48  WILL    OF    LORD    CHEDWORTH. 

His  books  he  wills  should  be  divided  between  the  said 
Thomas  Penrice,  Thomas  Green,  and  William  Layton,  to 
choose  alternately,  and  to  draw  lots  for  the  order  of  choice, 
provided  that  if  there  be  any  books  not  exceeding  50 
volumes,  which  the  said  Edward  Seymour  should  wish  for, 
they  should  allow  him  to  take  them. — If  he  wishes  for 
a  copy  of  his  Lordship's  notes  on  Shakspeare,  a  copy  to  be 
made  for  him — the  original  he  gives  to  the  said  Thomas 
Penrice. 

His  will  is,  if  the  produce  arising  from  the  sale  of  his 
estates,  together  with  his  personal  estates,  be  not  sufficient, 
after  the  payment  of  his  debts,  for  the  full  payment  of  the 
said  legacies,  that  then  each  of  the  said  legacies  above  the 
value  of  10001.  should  abate  in  proportion  ;  and  if  there 
should  be  more  than  sufficient,  then  his  will  is,  that  all 
the  real  residue  and  remainder  should  go  to  the  said 
Thomas  Penrice. 

To  Lucy  Pratt,  of  Ipswich,  200). 

And  I  do  nominate,  and  constitute  and  appoint  the  said 
Richard  Wilson  and  Thomas  Penrice,  Executors  of  this 
my  last  Will  and  Testament,  written  with  my  own  hand 
and  sealed  with  my  seal,  this  eighteenth  day  of  July,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
four. 

CHEDWORTH  (L.  S.) 

Signed,  sealed,  published,  and  delivered  by  the  above- 
named  Testator,  as  and  for  his  last  Will  and  Testament, 
in  the  presence  of  us,  who  in  the  presence  of  the  said 
Testator,  and  at  his  request,  and  in  the  presence  of  each 
other,  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names,  the  day  and 
year  above  written. 

SAMUEL  FITCH, 
POETTE   JACKSON, 
CHARLES  BATTELEY. 
All  of  whom  live  in  Ipswich. 


WILL    OF    LORD    CHEDWORTH.  49 

This  is  a  codicil  to  the  last  Will  and  Testament  of  me 
John  Lord  Chedworth,  which  Will  is  dated  the  18th  day 
of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1804.  This  Codicil  is 
written  with  my  own  hand. 

I  give  to  my  faithful  servant,  William  Lunniss,  the 
further  sum  of  3501. 

To  my  Executor,  Richard  Wilson,  the  further  sum  of 
20,0001. 

To  my  friend  Wm.  Dean,  of  Arvvarton,  in  the  county 
of  Suffolk,  gent.  GOOOl. 

To  Lydia  Hallum,  spinster,  in  consequence  of  my  un- 
derstanding that  her  income  is  much  smaller  than  I  sup- 
posed, the  sum  of  30001. 

And  my  will  and  pleasure  is,  that  my  Executor,  Tho- 
mas Penrice,  his  heirs,  assigns,  executors,  and  adminis- 
trators, pay  to  my  barber,  William  Graves,  of  Ipswich, 
one  clear  annuity  of  601.  per  annum  for  and  during  the 
life  of  the  said  William  Graves. 

This  is  a  Codicil  to  my  last  Will  and  Testament,  which 
Codicil  is  written  with  my  own  hand,  and  sealed  with  my 
seal  this  10th  day  of  September,  1804. 

CHEDWORTH.   (L  S.) 

From  authority  we  state,  that  the  cause  of  Lord 
Chedworth's  retirement  from  the  walks  of  public  life, 
and  from  the  society  of  his  equals  in  rank,  was  an  un- 
fortunate dispute  in  which  he  was  involved  before  he 
succeeded  to  the  title.  It  originated  on  the  24th  of  May, 
1781,  at  the  Race-ground  at  Epsom,  where  he  received 
a  caning  from  George  Lewis  Dive,  Esq.  for  which  assault 
he  brought  an  action  against  that  gentleman,  at  the  en- 
suing Surrey  assizes.  This,  as  well  as  another  action 
for  defamatory  words,  spoken  on  the  same  occasion,  was 
tried  at  Croydon,  before  Lord  Mansfield,  on  the  16th  of 
August  1781.  In  the  former  cause  Lord  Chedworth 
obtained  a  verdict  of  501.  and  in  the  latter  5001.  damage?, 

Eccentric,  No.  II.  H  with 


50  EXTRAORDINARY    MURDER. 

with  costs  of  suit.  As  pecuniary  satisfaction  was  not  the 
object  he  desired,  those  sums  were  devoted  by  him  to 
charitable  purposes,  and  divided  between  the  Dispensary 
for  the  county  of  Surrey,  and  the  Marine  Society. 

It  appears  that  the  internal  ceconomy  of  Lord  Ched- 
worth's  habitation  was  as  little  suited  to  his  rank  in  life 
as  his  external  appearance  ;  for  we  are  informed  that  the 
furniture  of  the  house  at  which  he  resided  in  Ipswich  has 
been  valued  at  no  more  than  1801.— His  Lordship's  fond- 
ness of  female  society,  has  already  been  mentioned. 
We  have  likewise  stated  that  his  assiduities  to  certain  la- 
dies, had  cast  a  shade  of  suspicion  over  their  characters; 
we  are  however  enabled  to  state,  that  not  the  least  foun- 
dation existed  for  any  injurious  surmises. 


Account  of  WILLIAM  ANDREW  HORNE,  Esq.  executed  in 
1759,  for  a  MURDER  committed  thirty-five  years  before. 

XAMONG  the  many  instances  of  the  remarkable  judg- 
ments of  Providence  against  persons  guilty  of  the  hei- 
nous crime  of  murder,  the  following  is  not  the  least  ex- 
traordinary, and  tends  to  prove  that,  however  long  retri- 
bution may  be  delayed,  the  murderer  seldom  escapes, 
even  in  this  world,  that  punishment  which  society  has 
decreed  for  his  offence. 

William  Andrew  Home  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  gen- 
tleman possessing  a  good  estate  at  Butterley,  in  the  parish 
of  Pentridge,  in  Derbyshire.  He  was  born  on  the  30th 
of  November,  168.5.  His  father,  who  was  reputed  the 
best  classic  scholar  in  the  country,  taught  him  Latin  and 
Greek,  in  which  he  made  but  a  small  progress.  Being  a 
favourite  with  the  old  gentleman,  he  indulged  him  in  early 
life  with  a  horse  and  money,  which  enabled  him  to  ramble 
about  from  one  place  of  diversion  to  another.  In  this 

course 


EXTRA  ORDINARY    MURDER.  51 

course  of  dissipation,  he  gave  a  loose  to  his  vicious  incli- 
nations, and  particularly  to  his  passion  for  women.  Not 
content  with  debauching  his  mother's  maid-servants,  he 
afterwards  acknowledged,  in  a  paper  written  with  his 
own  hand,  that  he  had  been  the  occasion  of  the  murder 
of  a  servant  girl  who  was  with  child  by  him,  and  that  he 
had  a  criminal  connection  with  his  own  sisters. 

In  the  month  of  February  1724,  one  of  his  sisters  was 
delivered  of  a  fine  boy.  Three  days  afterwards  he  went 
at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  to  his  brother  Charles,  who  then 
lived  with  him  at  his  father's,  and  told  him  he  must  take 
a  ride  with  him  that  night.  He  then  fetched  the  child, 
which  they  put  into  a  long  linen  bag,  and  taking  two 
horses  out  of  the  stable,  rode  aw*ay  to  Annesley,  in  Notting- 
hamshire, five  computed  miles  from  Butterley,  carrying 
the  child  by  turns.  When  they  came  near  the  place, 
William  alighted,  and  asked  whether  the  child  was  alive. 
Charles  answering  in  the  affirmative,  he  took  it  in  the 
bag,  and  went  away,  bidding  his  brother  stay  till  he  should 
return.  When  Charles  asked  what  he  had  done  with  it, 
he  said,  he  had  laid  it  by  a  hay-stack,  and  covered  it  with 
hay. 

After  his  condemnation,  he  declared  that  he  had  no 
intention  the  child  should  die  ;  that  to  preserve  its  life, 
he  put  it  into  a  bag  lined  with  woo),  and  made  a  hole  in 
the  bag  to  give  it  air;  and  that  the  child  was  well  dressed, 
and  was  designed  as  a  present  for  Mr.  Chaworth  of  An- 
nesley, and  was  intended  to  be  laid  at  his  door  :  but  on 
taking  it  from  his  brother,  and  approaching  the  house, 
the  dogs  made  such  a  constant  barking,  that  he  durst 
not  go  up  to  the  door  for  fear  of  a  discovery,  there  being 
a  light  in  one  of  the  windows  ;  that  upon  this  disappoint- 
ment he  went  back  to  some  distance,  and  at  last  deter- 
mined to  lay  it.  under  a  warm  hay-stack,  in  hopes  of  its 
being  di?cov-rud  v;arly  next  morning,  by  the  people  who 

n  "2  came 


52  EXTRAORDINARY  MURDER. 

came  to  fodder  the  cattle.  The  child  indeed  was  found 
the  next  morning,  but  it  was  dead,  in  consequence  of  being 
left  all  night  in  the  cold. 

Not  long  afterwards,  Charles,  having  some  difference 
with  his  brother,  mentioned  the  affair  to  his  father,  who 
enjoined  him  never  to  speak  of  it  again.  It  was  accord- 
ingly kept  a  secret  till  the  old  gentleman's  death,  which 
happened  about  the  year  1747,  when  he  was  in  his  I02d 
year.  Charles  having  occasion,  soon  after  this  event,  to 
call  on  Mr.  Cooke,  an  attorney,  of  Derby,  on  parish 
business,  related  to  him  the  whole  affair.  Mr.  Cooke  said 
he  ought  to  go  to  a  magistrate,  and  make  a  full  discovery. 
He  accordingly  went  to  Justice  Gisborne,  but  that  gentle- 
man told  him,  it  would  be  better  to  be  silent,  as  it  was 
an  affair  of  long  standing,  and  might  hang  half  the 
family.  After  this  Charles  mentioned  it  to  several  other 
persons. 

Charles,  at  this  time,  was  far  from  being  in  easy  cir- 
cumstances. He  kept  a  little  ale-house  at  a  gate  leading 
to  his  brother's  habitation ;  and  though  he  used  fre- 
quently to  open  the  gate  for  him,  pulling  off  his  hat  at  the 
same  time,  yet  William  would  never  speak  to  him.  Not 
only  his  brother,  but  the  whole  country  round  had  reason 
to  complain  of  his  churlishness  and  rigour  ;  he  would 
scarcely  suffer  a  person  who  was  not  qualified  to  keep 
a  dog  or  a  gun,  so  that  he  was  universally  feared  and 
hated. 

About  the  year  1754,  Charles  being  very  ill  of  a  flux, 
sent  for  Mr.  John  White,  of  Ripley,  and  said  he  was  a 
dying  man,  and  could  not  go  out  of  the  world  without 
disclosing  his  mind  to  him,  and  acquainted  him  with  the 
incest  and  murder.  Mr.  White  said  it  was  a  delicate  bu- 
siness, and  he  knew  not  what  to  advise.  A  few  days 
afterwards,  Mr.  White  seeing  him  surprisingly  recovered, 
asked  him  to  what  it  was  owing,  to  which  Charles  re- 
plied, 


EXTRAORDINARY    MURDER.  53 

plied,  it  was  in  consequence  of  his  having  disclosed  his 
mind  to  him. 

A  short  time  previous  to  this  circumstance,  William 
Andrew  Home  threatened  one  Mr.  Roe  for  killing  game, 
and  meeting  him  at  a  public  house,  an  altercation  arose  on 
this  subject,  in  which  Roe  called  Home  an  incestuous 
old  dog.  For  these  words  he  was  prosecuted  in  the  ec- 
clesiastical court  at  Lichfield,  and  being  unable  to  prove 
the  charge,  he  was  obliged  to  submit,  and  to  pay  all  ex- 
pences.  Roe  being  afterwards  informed  that  Charles 
Home  had  informed  some  persons  that  his  brother  Wil- 
liam had  starved  his  natural  child  to  death,  went  to  them, 
and  found  his  intelligence  to  be  true.  Upon  this  he 
applied,  about  Christmas  1758,  to  a  justice  in  Derbyshire, 
for  a  warrant  to  apprehend  Charles,  that  the  truth  might 
come  out.  The  warrant  was  granted  ;  but  as  the  justice  did 
public  businesson  Mondays  only,  the  constable  took  Charles' 
word  for  his  appearance  on  the  Monday  following. 

Meanwhile,  William  being  informed  of  the  warrant, 
endeavoured  to  prevail  on  his  brother  Charles  to  perjure 
himself,  promising  to  be  a  friend  to  him.  Charles  re- 
fused to  comply,  saying  he  had  no  reason  to  expect  any 
favour  from  him,  but  as  he  was  his  brother,  if  he  would 
give  him  five  pounds  to  carry  him  to  Liverpool,  he  would 
immediately  embark  for  another  country.  William, 
however,  refused  to  part  with  the  money. 

The  justices  of  Derbyshire,  discovering  some  reluctance 
to  sift  the  affair  to  the  bottom,  an  application  was  made 
about  the  middle  of  March,  1759,  to  a  justice  of  the  peace 
in  Nottinghamshire,  who  granted  a  warrant  for  appre- 
hending William.  It  was  soon  endorsed  by  Sir  John 
Every,  a  gentleman  in  the  commission  of  the  peace  for 
the  county  of  Derby.  About  eight  at  night  the  constable 
of  Annesley,  went  to  Mr.  Home's  house  at  Butterley,  and 

knocked 


54  EXTRAORDINARY    MURDER. 

knocked  at  the  door,  but  was  refused  admittance.  He 
then  left  the  above  mentioned  Roe  and  two  others  to 
guard  the  house,  and  came  again  the  next  morning. 
He  was  then  told  by  a  servant  man  that  Mr.  Home  was 
gone  out.  They  insisted  he  was  in  the  house,  and  threat- 
ened to  break  open  the  door,  on  which  they  were  admitted. 
They  searched  all  over  the  house,  but  could  not  find  Mr. 
Home.  Roe  pressed  them  to  make  a  second  search.  In 
one  of  the  rooms  they  observed  a  large  oak  chest,  in 
which  Home's  wife  said  there  was  nothing  but  table 
linen  and  sheets.  Roe  insisted  on  inspecting  the  contents, 
and  was  about  to  break  the  lid,  when  Mrs.  Home  opened 
it,  and  her  husband  started  up  in  a  fright,  bare-headed, 
exclaiming,  "  It  is  a  sad  thing  to  hang  me,  for  my  brother 
Charles  is  as  bad  as  myself  ;  and  he  cannot  hang  me 
without  hanging  himself." 

He  was  carried  before  two  justices  of  Nottingham,  and 
after  an  examination  of  some  hours,  was  committed 
to  Nottingham  gaol,  to  take  his  trial  at  the  assizes.  Soon 

O  O  J 

after  his  commitment  he  made  application  to  the  court  of 
King's  Bench,  to  be  removed  by  Habeas  Corpus,  in 
order  to  be  bailed.  For  this  purpose  he  went  to  London 
in  the  custody  of  his  gaoler,  but  the  court  denied  him 
bail,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  Nottingham, 
where  he  remained  in  confinement  till  the  summer  assizes, 
held  on  the  10th  of  August  1759,  before  Lord  Chief  Baron 
Parker.  After  a  trial  which  lasted  nine  hours,  the  jury 
having  withdrawn  for  half  an  hoar,  pronounced  a  verdict 
of  Guilty.  On  this  occasion  the  very  persons  AV!IO  found 
the  child  appeared  and  corroborated  the  brother's  evidence. 
He  immediately  received  sentence  to  be  hanged  the 
Monday  following,  but  in  ilie  evening,  at  the  intercession 
of  some  gentlemen  who  thought  the  time  too  short  for 
such  an  old  winner  to  aOvtrch  hi;  hca,i't.:  the  judge  was 

pleased 


EXTRAORDINARY    MURDER.  55 

pleased  to  respite  the  execution  of  the  sentence  for  a 
month  ;  at  the  expiration  of  which  he  obtained  another 
respite  till  farther  orders. 

This  time  he  spent  chiefly  in  fruitless  applications  to 
persons  in  power  for  a  pardon,  manifesting  little  sense  of 
the  crime  of  which  he  was  convicted,  and  often  saying  it 
was  doubly  hard  to  suffer  on  the  evidence  of  a  brother, 
for  a  crime  committed  so  many  years  before.  A  day  or 
two  previous  to  his  execution,  he  solemnly  denied  many 
atrocious  things  which  common  report  laid  to  his  charge, 
and  said  to  a  person,  "  My  friend,  my  brother  Charles 
was  tried  at  Derby  twenty  years  ago,  and  acquitted, — my 
dear  sister  Nanny  forswearing  herself  at  that  time  to  save 
his  life,  which  you  see  was  preserved  to  hang  me." — He 
told  the  clergyman  who  attended  him,  "  that  he  forgave 
all  his  enemies,  even  his  brother  Charles  ;  but  that  at  the 
day  of  judgment,  if  God  Almighty  should  ask  him  how 
his  brother  Charles  behaved,  he  would  not  give  him  a 
good  character."  He  was  exactly  74  years  old  the  day  he 
died,  being  executed  on  his  birth-day.  This  he  men- 
tioned several  times  after  the  order  for  his  execution  was 
signed,  saying,  he  always  used  to  have  plum-pudding  on 
his  birth-day,  and  would  again,  if  he  could  obtain  another 
reprieve. 

Hewas  of  such  a  penurious  disposition,  that  it  is  said 
he  never  did  one  generous  action  in  the  whole  course  of 
his  life.  Notwithstanding  his  licentious  conduct,  his 
father  left  him  all  his  real  estate,  having  some  time  before 
his  death  given  all  his  personal  estate  by  a  deed  of  gift  to 
Charles.  The  father  died  on  a  couch  in  the  kitchen,  and 
had  at  the  time  about  twelve  guineas  in  his  pocket,  which 
undoubtedly  belonged  to  Charles.  William,  however, 
took  the  cash  out  of  the  pocket  of  his  deceased  parent, 
and  would  not  part  with  it  till  Charles  promised  to  pay 

the 


56  EFFECTS    OF    LONG    ABSTINENCE. 

the  whole  expence  of  burying  the  old  man.  This  he  did, 
and  afterwards  insisting  on  his  right,  the  elder  brother 
turned  him  out  of  doors,  and  though  he  knew  he  was 
master  of  such  an  important  secret,  he  refused  to  afford 
the  least  assistance,  or  to  give  a  morsel  of  bread  to  his 
hungry  children,  berririno;  at  the  door  of  their  hard-hearted 

O     •/ 

uncle.  Besides  his  incest,  and  the  murder  of  the  young 
woman,  who  was  with  child  by  him,  he  confessed  that  he 
broke,  with  a  violent  blow,  the  arm  of  one  Amos  Killer, 
which  occasioned  the  poor  fellow's  death. 


Remarkable  Instance  of  the  Effects  of  long  ABSTINENCE. 

J.N  the  second  volume  of  the  Medical  Communications, 
Dr.  Willan  has  reported  a  case  of  abstinence,  perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  and  of  longer  continuance  than  any 
on  record. 

A  young  man  of  a  studious  and  melancholy  disposition, 
troubled  with  some  symptoms  of  indigestion  and  internal 
complaints,  doubtless  instigated  likewise  by  a  strong 
imagination  and  mistaken  notions  relative  to  religion, 
suddenly  formed  the  resolution  of  curing  himself  by  the 
most  rigid  abstinence.  He  accordingly  withdrew  from 
his  business  and  his  friends,  and  took  lodgings  in  an  ob- 
scure situation.  Here  he  determined  to  abstain  from  all 
solid  food,  and  only  to  moisten  his  rnouth  from  time  to 
time  with  water,  slightly  flavoured  with  the  juice  of 
oranges.  After  three  days  abstinence,  the  craving  for 
food  subsided,  and  he  pursued  his  studies  without  incon- 
venience. He  took  no  exercise,  slept  little,  and  passed 
the  greatest  part  of  the  night  in  reading. — The  quantity  of 
water  lie  used  each  day  was  from  half  a  pint  to  a  pint,  and 
the  juice  of  two  oranges  with  which  he  flavoured  his  water 
served  him  a  week. 

In 


EFFECTS    OF    LONG    ABSTINENCE.  57 

In  this  regimen  he  persisted  sixty  days  without  varia- 
tion. During  the  last  ten  day?,  his  strength  rapidly  de- 
creased, and  at  length,  finding  himself  unable  to  rise 
from  his  bed,  he  began  to  be  alarmed.  Before  this  pe- 
riod he  had  flattered  himself  that  he  was  supported  by  a 
supernatural  power  ;  and  his  imagination  was  filled  with 
the  idea,  that  some  great  event  would  follow  this  extraor- 
dinary abstinence.  Bat  his  delusion  vanished,  and  he 
found  himself  becoming  gradually  weaker,  and  sinking 
fast  to  the  grave. 

His  friends,  who  had,  by  this  time,  discovered  his  re- 
treat, prevailed  upon  him  to  admit  the  visits  of  a  respect- 
able clergyman,  who  convinced  him  of  the  fallacy  of  his 
visionary  ideas,  and  with  some  difficulty  obtained  his  con- 
sent to  any  plan  that  might  be  deemed  conducive  to  his 
7'ecovery. 

On  the  23d  of  March  178G,  which  was  the  sixty-first 
day  of  his  fast,  Dr.  Willan  was  called  in  and  consulted 
on  this  extraordinary  case.  The  doctor  found  him  re- 
duced to  the  last  stage  of  debility.  His  whole  appear- 
ance, he  says,  suggested  the  idea  of  a  skeleton,  prepared 
by  drying  the  muscles  upon  it,  in  their  natural  situation. 
His  eyes  were  not  deficient  of  lustre ;  his  voice  was  sound 
and  clear,  notwithstanding  his  general  weakness,  but  at- 
tended with  great  imbecility  of  mind. 

In  his  retirement  he  had  commenced  the  arduous  task 
of  copying  the  Bible  in  short-hand,  with  the  contents 
prefixed  to  each  chapter.  He  shewed  the  doctor  the 
work  executed  nearly  to  the  second  book  of  Kings,  and 
likewise  explained  to  him  several  improvements  he  had 
made  in  short-hand  writing.  Between  the  23d  and  the 
28th  of  March,  he  was  so  far  recovered,  that  he  could 
with  ease  walk  across  the  room  ;  but  on  the  29th  he  lost 
his  recollection,  and  on  the  9th  of  April,  nature  being  en- 
tirely exhausted,  he  expired. 

Eccentric,  No.  II.  i  Dr. 


58  A    COPPER    OF    EXTRAORDINARY    MAGNITUDE. 

Dr.  Willan  believes  the  period  of  this  young  gentle- 
man's abstinence  to  be  longer  than  any  recorded  in  the 
annals  of  medicine.  He  thinks  it  impossible  that  he 
could  have  supported  himself  through  it,  excepting  from 
an  enthusiastic  turn  of  mind  bordering  on  insanity,  the 
effects  of  which  in  fortifying  the  body  against  cold  and 
hunger  are  so  very  powerful. 

In  the  above  communication  Dr.  Willan  mentions 
two  other  cases  of  abstinence.  The  subject  of  one  of 
these  was  an  insane  person,  who  lived  forty-seven  days 
without  taking  any  other  nourishment  than  a  pint  of 
water  per  day.  For  thirty-eight  days  of  the  time  he 
stood  constantly  in  the  same  position  ;  but  during  the 
last  eight,  he  was  so  weak  that,  he  was  obliged  to  lie 
down,  and  then  took  nothing  whatever,  refusing  even 
water.  When  he  began  to  eat  again,  he  recovered  his 
reason  for  a  short  time,  but  very  soon  relapsed. — The 
second  case  is  of  a  young  girl,  who  being  attacked  with 
spasms  or  obstructions,  fasted  thirty-four  days  at  onetime, 
and  fifty-four  at  another. 

On  this  subject  Dr.  Willan  remarks,  that  though  few 
conclusions  of  importance,  with  regard  to  medical  prac- 
tice, can  be  deduced  from  these  remarkable  cases,  yet  it 
may  not  be  without  utility  to  have  ascertained  for  what 
length  of  time  the  human  constitution  is  able  to  support 
itself  under  abstinence. 


A  COPPER  of  Extraordinary  Magnitude. 

SCARCELY  any  thing  contributes  so  much  to  characterize 
the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  present  age,  as  the  vast 
scale  on  which  many  branches  of  manufacture  are  car- 
ried on  in  this  country.  Every  one  has  heard  of  the 
celebrated  tun  of  Heidelberg,  but  that  monument  of  idle 
vanity  is  rivalled  by  t!i<:  vessels,  employed  by  many  pri- 
vate 


SINGULAR    INSTANCE    OF    INSANITY.  59 

vute  individuals  of  this  metropolis  in  the  breweries  of  ale 
and  porter. 

A  copper  of  astonishing-  magnitude  has  recently  been 
made  for  Messrs.  Stratton  and  Smith,  ale-brewers  near 
Carnaby  Market. 

It  is  34  feet  high,  and  96  in  diameter,  and  being  made 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  it  took  18  horses  to  draw  it  to 
the  place  of  its  destination.  When  it  was  brought  home  and 
fixed,  Messrs.  Stratton  and  Smith  invited  all  their  cus- 
tomers to  dine  with  them  in  the  copper.  Accordingly 
tables  and  benches,  in  an  amphitheatrical  style,  were  fixed 
in  the  copper,  and  769  persons  sat  down  in  it  at  once  to 
dinner.  They  were  treated  with  the  following  fare : 

Two  buttocks  of  beef,  weighing  each841bs. 

Nine  dozen  of  roasted  and  boiled  ducks. 

Twenty-two  tongues. 

Eleven  dozen  of  roasted  and  boiled  fowls. 

Seventeen  hams. 

Five  dozen  fat  geese,  roasted  and  boiled. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-six  dozen  of  wine  of  all  sorts. 

Twelve  barrels  of  famous  ale,  and  porter  galore. 

In  the  mash  tub  adjoining  the  copper  (also  newly  made 
and  of  large  magnitude),  were  all  their  draymen,  3  4  in 
number,  who  fared  equally  sumptuously. 

Singular  Instance  of  INSANITY. 

AN  the  month  of  November  1804,  died  at  Yarmouth, 
aged  70,  Martha  Staninought,  generally  called  the  Queen. 
In  her  younger  days  she  lived  as  a  servant  in  some  fami- 
lies of  that  town,  at  which  time  she  sbewed  occasionally 
symptoms  of  great  eccentricity;  but  for  many  years  past 
she  has  been  in  a  state  of  insanity,  and  has  been  supported 
by  an  allowance  from  the  parish,  and  private  bounty. 
Her  leading  idea  was,  that  her  brother  John  was  entitled 
to  the  crown,  and  that  she  ought  to  be  considered  and 

i  2  treated 


60  ACCOUNT   OF    WILLIAM    HENRY    WEST    BETTY. 

treated  as  a  Queen.  Under  this  impression,  she  always 
carried  in  her  hand,  as  symbols  of  her  right,  a  seal,  a 
triangular  piece  of  French  chalk,  a  dollar,  or  a  French 
half-crown,  and  the  title  page  of  some  act  of  parliament. 
She  was  greatly  offended  if  she  was  not  addressed  by  the 
title  of  "Your  Majesty ;"  and  when  she  was  at  church, 
which  she  attended  regularly,  she  always  made  a  formal 
protest  against  praying  for  the  king  and  queen  when  the 
prayer  was  read  ;  and  if  the  word  Society  occurred  in  the 
service,  always  called  out,  '*  No  Society"  Her  mind  was 
frequently  distressed  by  her  apprehension,  sometimes 
that  the  State,  sometimes  that  the  Catholic  faith  was  in 
danger;  but  excepting  her  insanity  on  the  subject  o 
royalty,  her  conduct  was  perfectly  correct  and  inoffen- 
sive. She  was  very  neat  in  her  appearance,  and  very 
civil  in  her  behaviour,  if  treated  with  respect.  She 
always  refused  to  take  alms,  though  she  would  accept  a 
loan  in  lieu  of  her  revenue,  and  frequently  repaid  it 
when  she  received  her  allowance,  which  accumulated 
during  her  absence  on  her  different  journies.  She  was 
well  known  on  the  road,  as  she  spent  great  part  of  her 
time  in  travelling,  visiting  frequently  her  cathedral  at 
Norwich,  and  her  courts  at  Westminster.  In  her  progress 
to  town  she  was  taken  ill  at  Leisten,  in  Suffolk,  and 
treated  with  the  utmost  attention  ;  her  imagination  re- 
maining to  the  last  impressed  with  her  ruling  idea.  In 
her  health  she  bestowed  dignities  on  her  favourites ;  and 
in  her  illness  she  promised  handsome  rewards  to  her 
faithful  attendants. 


Some  Account  of  the  THEATRICAL  PHENOMENON,  WIL- 
LIAM HENKY  WTEST  BETTY,  commonly  called  the 
YOUNG  Roscius. 

(  With  a  Portrait.} 

IN    a    repository   particularly  designed    as  a   record    of 
whatever  is  striking  and  extraordinary  either  in   the  em- 
pire 


TJi.p  Kx"tra.o.vrlma~j;v  BtLenomenan  of  in 04 

s-s///s's7////'  •  s^f/tt/j''/^;'-//!^, 
nct'ti  up*" September  1701 . 

'f'nl'Ji.f/ieil  />'•'•  r-z-i  ^  ido4  fct-R  JJurbv * il.cn den Hf use^'ard . 


ACCOUNT    OF    WILLtAM    HENRY    WEST    BETTY.  61 

pire  of  nature,  art  or  science,  the  resplendent  meteor 
which  has  recently  risen  above  the  horizon  of  the  dra- 
matic hemisphere,  may  justly  prefer  a  claim  to  notice. 
The  Young  Roscius  has  excited  such  an  extraordinary 
degree  of  public  interest,  that  we  are  confident  our 
readers  will  be  highly  gratified  with  the  following  au- 
thentic particulars ;  and  the  annexed  striking  represen- 
tation of  that  wonderful  youth. 

William  Henry  West  Betty  was  born  on  the  13th  of 
September,  1793,  at  St.  Chads,  Shrewsbury.  His  fatber, 
the  son  of  Dr.  Betty,  an  Irish  physician,  resided  at  Hopton 
Wafers,  in  the  county  of  Salop,  but  removed  some  years 
since  to  his  native  land,  and  settled  at  Baliyhinch,  in  the 
county  of  Down,  near  Belfast.  His  mother  was  a  Miss 
Stan  ton  j  of  the  county  of  Worcester ;  she  is  a  lady  of 
superior  attainments,  and  possessed  a  handsome  fortune, 
which  is  said  to  be  settled  on  the  subject  of  the  present 
memoir.  Of  late  years  his  father  has  held  a  consider- 
able farm  at  Baliyhinch,  and  has  likewise  had  some  con- 
cern in  a  linen-manufactory.  It  was  at  this  place  that 
young  Betty  received  his  education,  and  from  the  pecu- 
liar taste  of  his  mother,  acquired  a  fondness  for  recita- 
tion. He  gave  early  indications  of  strength  of  memory, 
and  always  shewed  a  great  ambition  to  excel.  The  cir- 
cumstance, however,  which  directed  his  genius,  and  in- 
troduced him  to  his  present  theatrical  career,  was  per- 
fectly accidental. 

In  the  year  1802,  Mrs.  Sicldous,  during  her  excursion 
to  Ireland,  was  engaged  to  act  a  few  nights  at  Belfast. 
The  reputation  of  this  celebrated  performer  naturally  ex- 
cited public  curiosity,  and  Mr.  Betty  happening  to  be  at 
Belfast,  took  his  son  to  the  theatre  to  see  the  grand  spec- 
tacle of  Pizarro,  in  which  Mrs.  Siddons  appeared  in  the 
part  of  Elvira. 

This  was  the  first  theatrical   performance  which  young- 
Betty 


62  ACCOUNT    OF    WILLIAM    HENRY    WEST    BETTY. 

Betty  had  ever  seen.  It  would  be  natural  to  suppose, 
that  the  fancy  of  a  child  would  receive  most  delight 
from  the  splendid  scenery  of  the  piece;  his  imagination, 
however,  was  struck  with  the  dignified  and  impressive 
manner  of  the  actress.  Her  recitation,  and  the  majesty 
of  her  deportment,  left  behind  an  impression  which  could 
not  be  erased  from  his  mind,  and  on  his  return  home  the 
character  of  Elvira,  and  the  attractions  of  the  drama,  were 
the  sole  subjects  of  all  his  conversation. 

He  now  employed  himself  in  committing  to  memory 
the  speeches  of  Elvira,  which  he  recited  in  imitation  of 
Mrs.  Siddons ;  and  having  excited  the  attention  and  ad- 
miration of  his  parents  and  friends,  by  these  juvenile 
and  spontaneous  efforts,  his  predilection  for  a  theatrical 
life  was  strengthened  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  one  day 
said  to  his  father  with  great  emphasis,  "  I  shall  die,  if 
you  do  not  permit  me  to  be  a  player." 

This  disposition  continued  with  increased  ardour,  and 
manifested  itself  so  strongly,  that  after  some  time  Mr. 
Betty  introduced  his  son  to  Mr.  Atkins,  the  manager  of 
the  theatre  at  Belfast.  Having  received  some  prepara- 
tory instructions  from  Mr.  Hough  the  prompter,  he  per- 
fected himself  when  scarcely  eleven  years  of  age  in  the 
parts  of  Osman,  Holla,  Douglas,  and  several  other  first- 
rate  characters. 

On  the  16th  of  August  1803,  he  was  announced  for 
the  part  of  Osman  in  the  tragedy  of  Zara,  which  he 
performed  with  universal  admiration  and  applause.  His 
next  appearance  was  in  the  character  of  Young  Norval, 
which,  together  with  his  next  performance  of  Holla,  es- 
tablished his  reputation,  and  he  concluded  his  first  en- 
gagement with  the  part  of  Romeo. 

He    was    then   engaged    by    Mr.  Jones  of  the   Dublin 
theatre    for  nine    nights.     The    fame  which   he    had  ac- 
quired at  Belfast  preceded  him,  and  he   every  night  per- 
formed 


ACCOUNT    OP    WILLIAM    HENRY    WEST    BETTY.  63 

formed  in  that  city  to  overflowing  audiences.  His  next 
engagement  was  at  Cork,  where  his  career  was  equally 
brilliant. 

Having  now  appeared  at  the  principal  theatres  in  Ire- 
laud,  the  report  of  Young  Betty's  extraordinary  talents 
reached  the  ears  of  Mr.  Jackson,  the  manager  of  the 
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  theatres,  for  whom  it  was  re- 
served to  ascertain  the  real  value  of  this  dramatic  phe- 
nomenon. His  first  appearance  at  Glasgow  was  on  the 
21st  of  May  1804,  in  the  character  of  Young  Norval, 
and  Mr.  Jackson  declares,  that  he  was  received  with  the 
greatest  bursts  of  applause  he  had  ever  witnessed  from 
any  audience.  On  occasion  of  his  acting  the  same  cha- 
racter at  Edinburgh,  Mr.  Jackson  relates  the  following 
singular  anecdote  relative  to  the  venerable  Home,  the 
author  of  the  tragedy  of  Douglas,  and  his  opinion  of  this 
extraordinary  youth. 

"  Mr.  Home  came,  according  to  promise,  and  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  seating  him  at  the  side  of  the  first  wing, 
where  I  had  enjoyed  the  same  honour  at  that  very  play 
forty-three  years  before.  And  I  presume  no  one  ever  re- 
ceived higher  gratification  than  he  did  from  the  perform- 
ance of  the  Young  Roscius  that  evening.  I  speak  it 
from  conviction;  I  read  his  looks,  and  saw  the  undis- 
guised workings  of  his  frame.  The  play  concluded  with 
reiterated  applause;  which  had  scarcely  ceased,  when 
the  author  of  Douglas,  in  the  plenitude  of  a  rapturous 
enthusiasm  from  the  unexpected  gratification  he  had  re- 
ceived, stepped  forward  before  the  curtain,  and  bowed 
respectfully  to  the  audience,  retiring  amidst  the  tumul- 
tuous acclamations  of  the  house.  I  asked  him  how  he 
had  been  entertained  ;  he  answered,  '  Never  better. '- 
1  Sir,'  said  he,  '  this  is  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  the 
part  of  Douglas  played,  that  is,  according  to  my  ideas 
of  the  character,  as  at  that  time  I  conceived  it,  and  as 

I  wrote 


64  ACCOUNT    OF    WILLIAM    HENRY    WEST    BETTY. 

I  wrote  it.  This  child  is  a  wonderful  being ;  his  endow- 
ments are  great  beyond  conception,  and  I  pronounce  him 
at  present,  or  at  least  that  he  will  soon  be,  one  of  the  first 
actors  on  the  British  stage.' " 

With  respect  to  the  subsequent  theatrical  engagements 
of  Master  Betty,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  state,  that  he  has 
played  at  Birmingham,  at  Sheffield,  and  at  Liverpool, 
with  as  much  profit  and  reputation  to  himself,  as  advan- 
tage to  the  managers. 

On  Saturday  the  first  of  December,  he  made  his  first 
appearance  at  Covent  Garden,  and  on  the  10th  of  this 
same  month  at  Drury  Lane.  He  has  been  introduced  to 
the  King,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  the  first  nobility,  who 
have  all  expressed  uncommon  admiration  of  his  extraor- 
dinary talents. 

His  reception  at  the  age  of  only  thirteen  on  the  Lon- 
don boards,  has  fully  equalled  the  most  sanguine  expec- 
tations of  success.  The  applauses  of  the  audience  have 
been  such  as  were  scarcely  ever  bestowed  on  any  performer; 
and  every  evening  of  his  appearance  all  the  avenues  to 
the  theatres  have  been  filled  several  hours  before  the 
doors  were  opened.  The  consequence  of  this  uncommon 
solicitude  to  behold  the  wonderful  boy  was,  that  for  a  con- 
siderable time  the  bold  and  impatient  only  were  able  to 
obtain  a  sight  of  him. 

With  respect  to  his  theatrical  merits,  the  following 
is  the  opinion  given  of  them,  by  one  of  our  best  dramatic 
critics  on  his  performance. — His  natural  powers,  his 
voice,  which  is  deep  and  mellow,  and  his  feelings,  which 
are  rapid  and  acute,  are  extraordinarily  great.  It  is 
likewise  not  less  of  a  miracle,  that  he  possesses  a  cor- 
rect and  powerful  judgment,  and  above  all  an  exquisite 
taste  ;  for  we  truly  affirm  that,  on  the  scale  of  taste,  lie 
committed  not  a  single  error. 

The  terms  of  Young  Betty's  engagement  at  Govern 

Garden 


INSTANCES    OF    REMARKABLE    LONGEVITY.  65 

Garden  are  fifty  guineas  a  night  for  twelve  nights,  and  a 
clear  benefit;  and  he  is  likewise  to  appear  at  Drury  Lane 
in  the  intervals  between  the  Covent  Garden  nights. 

In  person  Young  Roscius  may  be  described  as  a  very 
handsome  boy.  His  complexion  is  remarkably  fair,  and 
his  countenance  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  expression  of 
contending  passions.  His  hours  of  study  are  before  break- 
fast, and  he  very  seldom  looks  at  a  book  afterwards.  In 
his  private  deportment  his  manners  are  much  the  same  as 
those  of  boys  of  his  own  age,  and  he  delights  and  partici- 
pates in  the  usual  sports  of  youth.  His  disposition  is 
represented  as  remarkably  docile  and  benevolent,  and  he 
may  be  considered  as  the  dutiful  child  of  his  fond  parents. 


Instances  of  remarkable  LONGEVITY. 

NSTANCES  of  persons  who  have  attained  a  much  greater 
age  than  that  usually  assigned  to  human  existence,  are  not 
so  rare  as  is  commonly  supposed.  Of  this  the  subjoined 
list,  collected  from  various  authentic  sources,  is  a  curious 
proof.  That  it  might  not  be  swelled  out  to  an  inconvenient 
length,  the  names  of  no  persons  have  been  inserted  who 
have  not  attained  the  age  of  130  years,  or  whose  longevity 
has  not  appeared  to  be  well  attested.  The  date  affixed  to 
each  name,  is  the  year  in  whicheach  person  died,  or  when 
that  could  not  be  procured,  the  latest  year  in  which  each  is 
known  to  have  been  living. 

Year.  Age.  Year.  Ago 

1759  Donald  Cameron  130  1780  Robert  Macbride  ISO 

1766  John  do  la  Somet  130  1780  William  Ellis  130 

1766  George  King  130  176-1  Elizabeth  Taylor  131 

1767  John  Tayler  130  1775  Peter  Garden  131 
1774  William  Beattie  130  1761  Elizabeth  Merchant  133 
1778  John  Wataon  130  1772  Mrs.  Keith  133 

Eccentric,  No.  II.  K. 


66 


INSTANCES    OF    REMARKABLE    LONGEVITY. 


Year.  Age. 

1773  Swarling,  a  Monk  142 

1773  Charles  M'Findlay  143 

1757  John  Effingham  144 

1782  Evan  Williams  145 

1766  Thomas  Winsloe  146 

1772  J.  C.  Draakenberg  146 

1652     William  Mead  48 

1768  Francis  Consit  150 

1542  Thomas  Newman  152 

1635  Thomas  Parr  152 

1656  James  Bowels  152 

Henry  West  152 

1648  Thomas  Damme  154 

1762  A  Polish  Peasant  157 

1797  Joseph   Surrington  160 

1668  William  Edwards  168 

1670  Henry  Jenkins  162 

1780  Louisa  Truxo  173 

To  these  may  be  added,  a  Mulatto  man  who  died  in  1?97, 
in  Frederick  Town,  North  America,  and  who  was  said  to 
be  180  years  old. 

In  the  County  Chronicle  of  December  13,  1791,  a  para- 
graph was  inserted,  which  stated,  that  "  Thomas  Carn,  ac- 
cording- to  the  parish  register  of  St.  Leonard,  Shoreditch, 
died  the  28th  of  January,  1588,  aged  207."  This  is  an  in- 
stance of  longevity,  so  far  exceeding  any  other  on  record, 
that  one  is  disposed  to  suspect  some  mistake  either  in  the 
register  or  in  the  extract. 

In  our  subsequent  numbers  we  intend  to  present  our 
readers  with  particulars  relative  to  such  of  the  persons 
above-mentioned,  of  whom  any  thing  remarkable  is  re- 
corded, together  with  original  portraits. 


Year. 

Age. 

1767 

Francis  Ange 

134 

1777 

John  Brookey 

134 

1714 

Jane  Harrison 

135 

1759 

James  Sheile 

136 

1768 

Catherine  'Noon 

136 

1771 

Margaret  Forster 

136 

1776 

John  Moriat 

136 

1772 

John  Richardson 

137 

1793 

Robertson 

137 

1757 

William  Sharpley 

13S 

1768 

John  M'Donough 

138 

1770 

John  Fairbrother 

138 

1772 

Mrs.  Clum 

138 

1766 

Thomas  Dobson 

139 

1785 

Mary  Cameron 

139 

1732 

William    Lei  and 

140 

Countess  of    Desmond 

140 

1770 

James  Sands 

140 

Full 


[     67     J 

Full  and  authentic  Detail  of  the  Circumstances  which  occa- 
sioned the  notorious  Imposture,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
COCK  LANE  GHOST,  with  an  Account  of  its  Detection, 
and  the  Punishment  of  the  Persons  concerned  in  it. 


the  numerous  impositions  on  the  credulity  of 
the  public,  none  was  ever  carried  on  with  more  bare- 
faced impudence,  and  none  ever  attracted  such  universal 
notice  as  the  Ghost  of  Cock  Lane.  The  learned  and  the 
unlearned,  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  noble  and  the  beggar,  were  alike  interested  by  it  ; 
and  for  months  this  was  almost  the  only  topic  of  conversa- 
tion, not  merely  in  the  metropolis,  but  throughout  the 
whole  kingdom.  In  the  space  of  forty  years,  however,  a 
new  generation  has  sprung  up,  and  many  of  our  readers 
may  probably  be  strangers  to  all  the  circumstances  of  this 
extraordinary  affair,  excepting  its  name.  As  we  do  not 
recollect  to  have  seen  a  full,  detailed,  and  authentic  account 
of  the  transaction,  we  have  been  at  considerable  trouble 
and  expence  to  prove  all  the  documents  relative  to  it. 
From  these  is  compiled  the  following  account,  which  we 
are  confident  will  afford  no  small  degree  of  amusement  and 
gratification. 

In  the  year  1756,  Mr.  Kempe,  a  man  of  respectability 
in  the  public  business  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  was 
married  to  a  young  gentlewoman  of  that  neighbourhood, 
with  whom  he  lived  happily  for  eleven  months.  She 
dying  in  child-bed,  her  sister,  who  had  lived  at  Mr. 
Kempe's  as  a  companion  to  his  wife,  continued  to  assist 
him  in  his  business,  and  they  contracted  such  an  inti- 
macy, that  when  he  quitted  that  line,  with  the  intention 
of  settling  in  London,  she  insisted  on  following  him 
even  on  foot,  if  he  would  not  procure  her  a  more  credit- 
able conveyance.  She  accordingly,  followed  him  to 
town  (as  will  presently  be  related),  and  as  they  were  ex- 
it 2  eluded 


(58  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK     I.ANE    GHOST. 

eluded  by  the  canon  law  from  marrying,  they  thought 
it,  in  faro  cowtcientice,  no  crime  to  indulge  their  mutual 
passion.  They  cohabited  together  as  man  and  wife,  and 
mutually  made  their  wills  in  favour  of  each  other,  by 
which  agreement  the  young  lady  would  have  been  a  con- 
siderable gainer  had  she  survived. 

After  her  arrival  from  the  country,  they  resided  a 
short  time  at  Greenwich  ;  Mr.  Kempe  then  took  lodg- 
ings in  London,  near  the  Mansion  House.  While  at 
the  latter  place,  Mr.  Parsons  the  officiating  clerk  of  St. 
Sepulchre's,  observing  one  morning  at  early  prayers,  a 
genteel  couple  standing  in  the  aisle,  shewed  them  into  a 
pew.  Being  afterwards  thanked  for  his  civility  by  the 
gentleman,  who  asked  him  if  he  could  inform  him  of  a 
lodging  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  Parsons  offered  his  own 
house,  which  was  accepted. 

Soon  after  their  removal  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Parsons 
in  Cock  Lane,  near  Smithfield,  Mr.  Kempe  went  into 
the  country,  and  the  lady,  who  went  by  the  name  of 
Miss  Fanny,  took  Mr.  Parsons'  daughter,  a  child  eleven 
years  old,  to  sleep  with  her.  About  this  time  Miss  Fanny 
one  morning  complained  to  the  family,  that  they  had 
both  been  greatly  disturbed  in  the  night  by  violent  noises. 
Mrs.  Pai'sons  was  at  a  loss  to  account  for  this,  but  at  length 
recollected  that  an  industrious  shoemaker  lived  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  concluded  that  he  was  the  cause  of 
the  disturbance. 

Not  long  afterwards,  on  a  Sunday  night,  Miss  Fanny 
getting  out  of  bed,  called  out  to  Mrs.  Parsons:  "  Pray 
does  your  shoemaker  work  so  hard  on  Sunday  nights 
too?"  to  which  being  answered  in  the  negative,  she  de- 
sired Mrs.  Parsons  to  come  into  the  chamber,  and  be 
herself  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  the  assertion.  Several 
persons  were  now  invited  to  assist,  and  among  the  rest 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Linden;  but  be  excused  himself,  and  on 

the 


ACCOUNT   OF    THE    COCK    LANK    GHOST.  69 

the  removal  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kempe,  the   noises  ceased 
at  the  house  of  Mr.  Parsons. 

Unfortunately  for  Mr.  Kernpe,  both  the  landlords  at 
whose  houses  he  had  lodged  were  necessitous ;  both 
borrowed  money  of  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  sue  both 
for  the  payment,  and  to  this  circumstance  may  doubtless 
be  ascribed  the  plot  which  was  afterwards  contrived 
against  him.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  appears  that  while 
he  lodged  at  the  house  of  Parsons,  the  young  lady 
became  pregnant;  and  that  in  the  sixth  month  of  her 
pregnancy,  Dr.  Cooper  of  Northumberland  Street  was 
retained  to  attend  her  in  her  labour.  That  gentleman 
continued  to  visit  her  till  she  was  taken  ill  of  what  he 
thought  an  eruptive  fever,  as  he  did  not  know  that  she 
had  never  had  the  small  pox.  As  the  lodgings  were  ex- 
tremely inconvenient,  Mr.  Kempe  prepared  rooms  for 
her  reception  at  a  house  he  had  taken  in  Bartlett  Street, 
Clerkenwell,  to  which  she  was  removed  with  all  possible 
care,  in  a  coach,  attended  by  Dr.  Cooper  ;  and  a  nurse 
was  provided  to  wait  upon  her.  Here  it  was  discovered 
that  the  disease  with  which  she  tvas  attacked  was  the 
small-pox;  and  for  the  first  four  days  both  the  physician 
and  the  apothecary,  Mr.  Jones  of  Grafton  Street,  who 
attended  her,  thought  the  symptoms  rather  favourable; 
but  when  maturation  should  have  been  performed,  the 
pulse  flagged,  the  fever  sunk,  and  the  whole  eruption 
put  on  a  very  warty  and  pallid  appearance.  In  short, 
her  death  was  pronounced  almost  certain  three  or  four 
days  before  it  happened,  during  whicli  time  a  clergy- 
man was  called  in,  and  every  means  were  employed,  as 
well  to  afford  spiritual  consolation,  as  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  her  person.  These  facts  were  afterwards  attested 
by  Dr.  Cooper  and  Mr.  Jones,  and  confirmed  by  the 
clergyman  who  attended  her. — The  patient  expired  on 

the 


70  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST. 

the  2nd  of  February,  1760,  and  was  interred  at  the  Church 
of  St.  John's,  Clerkenwell. 

From  this  event  two  years  elapsed,  when  a  report  was 
propagated  that  a  great  knocking  and  scratching  had 
been  heard  in  the  night,  at  the  house  of  Parsons,  to  the 
great  terror  of  all  the  family  ;  all  methods  employed  to 
discover  the  cause  of  it  being  ineffectual.  This  noise 
was  always  heard  under  the  bed  in  which  lay  two  chil- 
dren, the  eldest  of  whom  had  slept  with  Mrs.  Kempe, 
as  already  mentioned,  during  her  residence  in  this  house. 
To  find  out  whence  it  proceeded,  Mr.  Parsons  ordered 
the  wainscot  to  be  taken  down,  but  the  knocking  and 
scratching,  instead  of  ceasing,  became  more  violent 
than  ever.  The  children  were  then  removed  into  the  two 
pair  of  stairs  room,  whither  they  were  followed  by  the 
same  noise,  which  sometimes  continued  during  the  whole 
night. 

From  these  circumstances  it  was  apprehended,  that 
the  house  was  haunted  ;  and  the  elder  child  declared, 
that  she  had,  some  time  before,  seen  the  apparition  of  a 
woman,  surrounded,  as  it  were,  by  a  blazing  light.  But 
the  girl  was  not  the  only  person  who  was  favoured  with  a 
sight  of  this  luminous  lady.  A  publican  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, bringing  a  pot  of  beer  into  the  house,  about 
eleven  o'clock  at  night,  was  so  terrified  that  he  let  the 
beer  fall,  upon  seeing  on  the  stairs,  as  he  was  looking  up, 
the  bright  shining  figure  of  a  woman,  which  cast  such 
a  light  that  he  could  see  the  dial  in  the  charity  school, 
through  a  window  in  that  building.  The  figure  passed 
by  him,  and  beckoned  him  to  follow,  but  he  was  too 
much  terrified  to  obey  its  directions,  ran  home  as  fast  as 
possible,  and  was  taken  very  ill.  About  an  hour  after 
this,  Mr.  Parsons  himself  having  occasion  to  go  into  another 
room,  saw  the  same  apparition. 

As  the   knocking   and   scratching    only    followed    the 

children, 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST.  71 

children,  the  girl  who  had  seen  the  supposed  apparition 
was  interrogated  what  she  thought  it  was  like.  She  de- 
clared it  was  Mrs.  Kempe,  who  about  two  years  before  had 
lodged  in  the  house.  On  this  information ,  the  circumstances 
attending  Mrs.  Kempe's  death  were  recollected,  and  were 
pronounced  by  those  who  heard  them,  to  be  of  a  dark  and 
disagreeable  nature.  Suspicions  were  whispered  about 
tending  to  inculpate  Mr.  Kempe  ;  fresh  circumstances  were 
brought  to  light,  and  it  was  hinted  that  the  deceased  had 
not  died  a  natural  death. 

These  reports  were  succeeded  by  the  publication  of  a 
narrative  relative  to  Mr.  Kempe's  connection  with  the 
deceased.  This  paper  was  said  to  have  been  signed  and 
delivered,  on  Monday  the  25th  of  February,  1760,  to  a 
gentleman  of  Norfolk,  of  which  county  Mrs.  Kempe,  other- 
wise Miss  Frances  L s,  was  a  native.  It  was  to  the 

following  effect. 
"  To  wit. 

"  That  one  Mr.  Kempe  some  time  in  the  month  of 
August,  1759,  employed  a  person  to  carry  a  letter  to  a 
young  woman  of  a  reputable  family  in  Norfolk,  and 
withal  to  bring  her  in  a  post-chaise  to  the  said  K.'s  lodg- 
ings somewhere  in  or  near  the  Strand.  The  agent  having 
performed  his  undertaking  very  dexterously,  arrived  with 
the  lady  in  London  late  in  the  evening,  carried  her  to 
the  said  K.'s  lodgings  agreeably  to  his  instructions;  but 
when  they  came  there,  K.  had  left  a  direction  for  his 
honourable  agent  to  bring  her  directly  down  to  Greenwich, 
(which  was  performed  by  the  help  of  a  pair  of  oars)  where 
he  found  the  said  K.  ready  to  receive  his  faithful  girl,  after 
the  fatigue  of  a  journey  of  about  one  hundred  miles  per- 
formed in  one  day. 

"  They  continued  some  short  time  at  Greenwich, 
where  the  said  K.'s  agent  frequently  visited  his  employer  ; 
there  being  a  great  friendship  between  them,  which 

friendship 


72         ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COCK  LANE  GHOST. 

friendship  was  first  contracted  at  an  inn  in  Norfolk. 
Kempe,  during- this  stay  at  Greenwich,  thought  it  neces- 
sary that  the  young  lady  should  make  a  will  in  his 
favour,  which  was  no  sooner  thought  of  than  put  in  ex- 
ecution ;  and  who  so  proper  a  person  to  draw  up  the  will 
as  K.'s  agent  (who  had  some  small  knowledge  of  the  law). 
Agreeably  to  instructions,  he  drew  up  a  will,  which 
will  was  witnessed  by  the  schoolmaster  of  the  village, 
and  his  servant  maid.  All  things  having  had  the  desired 
effect,  the  lady  was  removed  to  a  lodging  somewhere 
near  the  Mansion-house.  There  they  did  not  continue 
long,  the  people  of  the  house  not  altogether  approving 
their  conduct ;  and  from  thence  they  removed  to  lodgings 
behind  St.  Sepulchre's  Church,  Snow  Hill ;  after  which 
they  decamped  to  a  house  in  Bartlett  Court,  in  the  parish 
of  St.  John's,  Clerkenwell,  where  he  continued  to  cohabit 
with  the  young  lady. 

«  J.  A.  L." 

To  the  above  narrative  was  subjoined  the  following  sup- 
plement : 

"  Some  time  about  the  latter  end  of  January,  1760,  the 
young  lady  was  taken  ill  of  the  small-pox,  and  on  or 
about  the  3 1st  of  the  same  month,  her  sister,  who  lived 
in  good  reputation  in  Pall  Mall,  was  made  acquainted 
with  her  illness,  arid  being  overjoyed  to  hear  where  she 
was,  went  immediately  to  her,  and  found  her  ill,  but  in 
a  fair  way  of  doing  well.  She  lamented  her  unhappy 
situation,  and  on  parting,  requested  that  her  sister 
would,  if  possible,  come  and  see  her  the  next  day;  but 
the  sister  not  being  able  to  comply  with  her  request, 
sent  a  person  to  inquire  how  she  did  ;  who  brought  her 
word  that  her  sister  was  purely,  and  had  sat  up  in  her 
bed  that  day.  On  the  morning  following,  however, 
word  was  brought  to  her  sister  in  Pall  Mall,  that  her 
sister  in  Clerkenwell  was  dead,  which  greatly  surprised 

her 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COCK  LANE  GHOST.         73 

her,  as  she  had  received  so  favourable  an  account  of  the 
state  of  her  sister's  health  the  day  before.  The  deceased 
died  on  the  2d  of  February  1760,  and  was  buried  two 
or  three  days  afterwards,  at  the  church  of  St.  John's, 
Clerkeuwell :  the  sister  in  Pall  Mall,  at  the  request  of 
Kernpe,  attended  the  corpse  to  the  grave,  but  was  de- 
prived of  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her  dear  sister's  body, 
as  the  coffin  had  been  screwed  down  some  time  before 
she  came  to  the  house.  After  the  funeral  was  over,  the 
sister  called  on  a  relation  near  St.  Paul's,  and  after  tell- 
ing him  that  she  had  been  at  her  sister's  funeral  at 

O 

Clerkenwell,  expressed  her  surprise  at  not  seeing  a  plate 
on  her  sister's  coffin  (though  a  very  handsome  one),  and 
asked  if  I  could  gue--s  the  reason  of  it.  She  then  pro- 
ceeded to  tell  who  and  what  Kempewas;  she  said  that 
he  had  married  one  of  her  sisters  when  he  lived  in 
Norfolk,  and  had  ruined  the  other,  as  the  deceased  had 
informed  her.  She  said  she  had  often  expressed  a  great 
desire  to  see  her  sister  after  she  came  to  London,  but 
was  never  so  happy  as  to  obtain  her  wish,  till  it  was  too 
late  to  be  of  any  service  to  her.  She  was  buried  by  the 
name  of  Kempe,  as  appears  by  the  parish  register. 

"  Soon  after  her  decease,  Kempe  proved  her  will  in 
Doctors'  Commons,  the  6th  of  February  1760,  (though 
a  caveat  was  entered  by  the  sister  of  the  deceased)  and 
availed  himself  of  all  her  fortune,  to  the  prejudice  of  her 
brothers  and  sisters,  who  lived  in  great  harmony  and  love 
together,  before  this  fatal  accident. 

"II.  BROWNE, 
"January  2\st,  1?62.  Amen  Corner." 

All  these  circumstances  relative  to  Mrs.  Kempe's  death 
were  no  sooner  known,  than  they  gave  rise  to  a  report 
that  A\e  was  poisoned.  The  knocking  and  scratching 
now  began  to  be  more  violent;  they  seemed  to  proceed 

Eccentric,  No.  II.  L 


74  ACCOUNT  OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST. 

from  underneath  the  bedstead  of  fhe  child,  who  was 
sometimes  thrown  into  violent  fits  and  agitations.  In  a 
word,  Parsons  gave  out  that  the  spirit  of  Mrs.  Kempe 
had  taken  possession  of  the  girl.  The  noises  increased 
in  violence,  and  several  gentlemen  were  requested  to  sit 
up  all  night  in  the  child's  room.  On  the  13th  of  January 
between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  a  respectable 
clergyman  was  sent  for,  who,  addressing  himself  to  the 
supposed  spirit,  desired,  that  if  any  injury  had  been  done 
to  the  person  who  had  lived  in  that  house,  he  might  be 
answered  in  the  affirmative  by  one  single  knock ;  if  the 
contrary,  by  two  knocks.  This  was  immediately  answered 
by  one  knock.  He  then  asked  several  questions,  which 
were  all  very  rationally  answered,  and  from  which  the 
following  particulars  were  learned  ;  "  That  the  spirit  was 

a  woman,  her  name  Frances  L s  ;   that  she  had  lived 

in  fornication  with  Mr.  Kempe,  whose  first  wife  was  her 
sister,  and  that  he  had  poisoned  her,  by  putting  arsenic  in 
purl,  and  administering  it  to  her  when  ill  of  the  small 
pox." 

Many  people  suspecting,  that  some  deception  was  prac- 
tised, it  was  resolved  to  remove  the  girl  to  another  house,  in 
order,  that  if  there  were  any  imposition,  it  might  be 
detected.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  the  child  was 
suddenly  taken  away  to  a  strange  house,  and  not  to  that 
to  which  it  had  been  said  she  was  to  be  removed.  The 
clergyman  who  had  visited  her,  not  choosing  to  pronounce 
too  hastily,  on  what  appeared  to  him  extraordinary,  col- 
lected some  friends,  among  whom  were  two  or  three 
divines,  and  about  twenty  other  persons.  Two  negroes 
were  likewise  admitted  of  the  party,  who,  on  the  evening 
of  Wednesday  the  20th  of  January,  assembled  at  a  house 
at.  i he  corner  of  Hosier  Lane,  to  which  the  girl  had 
been  carried.  They  arrived  about  ten,  and  having  first 
thoroughly  examined  the  bed-clothes,  &c.  and  being 

satisfied 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST.  75 

satisfied  that  there  were  no  visible  appearances  of  deceit, 
the  child  was  put  into  the  bed,  which  was  found  to  shake 
extremely  by  the  gentleman  who  had  placed  himself  at 
the  foot  of  it.  They  then  proceeded  to  ask  a  variety  of 
questions,  which  the  supposed  spirit  answered  by  giving 
one  knock  for  the  affirmative,  and  two  for  the  negative, 
and  expressing  displeasure  by  scratching.  The  following 
were  the  particulars  of  this  extraordinary  conversation  : — 

Q,  Were  you  brought  to  an  untimely  end  by  poison? — 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  In  what  was  the  poison  administered,  beer,  or  purl? 
—A.  Purl. 

Q.  How  long  before  your  death  ? — A.  Three  hours. 

Q.  Is  the  person  called  Carrots  able  to  give  any  informa- 
tion about  the  poison  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Are  you  Kempe's  wife's  sister? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Were  you  married  to  Kempe  ? — A.  No. 

Q.  Was  any  other  person  besides  Kempe  concerned  in  the 
poisoning? — A.  No. 

Q.  Can  you  appear  visibly  to  any  one  ? — Yes. 

Q.  Wi31  you  do  so? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Can  you  go  out  of  this  house  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Can  you  follow  the  child  every  where  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q   Are  you  pleased  at  being  asked  questions? — 4.  Yes. 

Q.  Does  it  ease  your  mind  ? — A.  Yes. 

Here  a  mysterious  noise,  compared  to  the  fluttering  of 
wings  round  the  room,  was  heard. 

Q.  How  long  before  your  death  did  you  tell  Carrots 
that  you  were  poisoned  ? — A.  One  hour. 

Here  Carrots,  who  had  been  servant  to  Mrs.  Kempe, 
and  was  admitted  to  be  one  of  the  company,  asserted, 
that  the  deceased  had  not  told  her  so;  being  at  that  time 
speechless. 

L  2  Q.  How 


76  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST. 

Q.  How  long  did  Carrots  live  with  you  ? — A.  Three  or 
four  days.  (Carrots  attested  the  truth  of  this.) 

Q.  If  the  accused  should  be  taken  up,  will  he  confess  ? — 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  Willyou  be  at  ease  in  your  mind  if  the  man  be  hanged  ? 
— A.  Yes. 

Q.  How  long  will  it  be  before  he  is  executed  ? — A.  Three 
years. 

Q.  How  many  clergymen  are  there  in  the  room  ? — A. 
Three. 

Q.  How  many  negroes  ? — A.  Two. 

Q.  Can  you  distinguish  the  person  of  any  one  in  the 
room  1 — A.  Yes. 

One  of  the  clergymen  holding  up  a  watch,  asked 
whether  it  was  white,  yellow,  blue,  or  black ;  to  which  he 
was  answered  black.  The  watch  was  in  a  black  shagreen 
case. 

Q.  At  what  time  will  you  depart  in  the  morning  ? — A. 
At  four  o'clock. 

Accordingly,  at  the  appointed  hour,  the  noise  is  said  to 
have  removed  into  the  Wheat  Sheaf,  a  public  house  at 
the  distance  of  a  few  doors,  where  it  was  heard  in  the  bed- 
chamber of  the  landlord  and  landlady,  to  the  great  affright 
and  terror  of  them  both. 

During  the  above  interrogation,  one  of  the  gentlemen 
placed  himself  by  the  bed-side,  leaning  on  the  bed,  when 
one  of  the  company,  on  the  other  side  of  the  room,  desired 
him  not  to  sit  in  that  posture,  on  which  the  former 
very  justly  replied,  "  Sir,  I  came  hither  with  a  design 
to  ascertain  the  truth  of  this  affair,  and  I  think  I  have 
a  right  to  place  myself  in  any  part  of  the  room  which 
I  look  upon  as  most  suspicious."  Some  other  little 
altercations  of  this  kind  took  place,  which  ended  in  the 
departure  of  the  persons  who  were  dissatisfied.  The 
gentleman  who  had  leaned  upon  the  bed  requested  per- 
mission 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COCK  LANE  GHOST.         77 

mission  of  Mr.  Parsons  to  remove  the  girl  to  his  own 
house,  promising  she  should  have  a  room  to  herself,  a 
maid  to  attend  her,  and  whomsoever  her  father  pleased 
to  be  with  her ;  adding,  he  had  authority  to  say  that,  if 
any  thing  material  happened,  a  person  of  distinction 
would  interest  himself  in  obtaining  a  discovery  of  this 
apparently  intricate  affair.  His  offer  was  rejected  by  Mr. 
Parsons. — Nothing  more  occurred  till  the  following  morn- 
ing, when  the  knocking  began  again  about  seven  o'clock. 

Though  many  were,  by  this  time,  inclined  to  believe 
that  what  they  had  witnessed  was  the  effect  of  superna- 
tural agency,  yet  the  rational  part  of  the  company  could 
not  be  brought  to  believe  but  that  there  was  some  fraud 
in  the  affair.  It  was  therefore  determined  to  remove  the 
child  a  second  time,  and  accordingly,  instead  of  being 
carried  home,  she  was  conveyed  to  a  house  in  Crown 
and  Cushion  Court,  at  the  upper  end  of  Cow  Lane,  near 
Smithfield,  where  two  clergymen,  several  gentlemen,  and 
some  ladies  assembled  on  Thursday  evening. 

About  eleven  o'clock  the  knocking  began ;  when  a 
gentleman  in  the  room  began  speaking  angrily  to  the 
girl,  and  hinting  that  he  suspected  it  was  some  trick  of 
her's,  the  child  was  uneasy  and  cried  ;  on  which  the 
knocking  was  heard  louder,  and  much  faster  than  be- 
fore ;  but  no  answer  could  be  obtained  to  any  question 
while  that  gentleman  staid  in  the  room. 

O 

After  he  was  gone  the  noise  ceased,  and  nothing  was 
heard  till  a  little  after  twelve,  when  the  child  was  seized 
with  a  trembling  and  shivering,  in  which  manner  she 
always  appeared  to  be  affected  on  the  departure,  as  well 
as  at  the  approach  of  the  spirit.  On  this,  one  of  the  com- 
pany asked  when  it  would  return  again,  and  at  what  time. 
Answer  was  made  in  the  usual  manner  by  knocks,  that 
it  would  be  there  again  before  seven  in  the  morning.  A 

noise 


78         ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COCK  LANE  GHOST. 

noise  like  the  fluttering  of  wings  was  then  heard,  after 
which  all  was  quiet,  till  between  six  and  seven  on  Friday 
morning,  when  the  knocking  began  again. 

A  little  before  seven  two  clergymen  came,  when  the 
fluttering  noise  was  repeated ;  which  was  considered  as  a 
sign  that  the  spirit  was  pleased.  Several  questions  were 
then  put,  particularly  one  by  a  female,  an  acquaintance 
of  the  deceased,  who  caine  out  of  mere  curiosity,  and 
had  been  to  see  Mrs.  Kempe  some  time  before  she  died. 
The  question  was,  how  many  days  before  the  death  of 
the  latter,  this  gentlewoman  had  been  to  see  her.  The 
answer  given  was  three  knocks,  signifying  three  days, 
which  was  exactly  right.  Another  question  was  whether 
some  one  of  the  company  then  present,  had  not  a  rela- 
tion who  had  been  buried  in  the  vault  where  Mrs.  Kempe 
lay.  The  reply  was  made  by  one  knock,  in  the  affirma- 
tive. They  then  asked  severally  if  it  was  their  relation  ; 
all  excepting  the  two  last  were  answered  no ;  but  to  the 
last  the  reply  was  by  one  knock,  which  was  right.  These 
two  circumstances  produced  considerable  surprise  in  the 
company.  The  clergyman  then  asked  several  questions, 
the  most,  material  of  which,  with  the  responses,  were  as 
follow : 

You  have  often  signified  that  Mr.  Kempe  poisoned  you  ; 
if  this  is  really  the  truth,  answer  by  nine  knocks.  An- 
swer was  made  by  nine  very  slow  and  distinct  knocks. 

Q.  Would  it  give  you  rest  or  satisfaction  to  have  your 
body  taken  up  ? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  Would  the  taking  up  and  opening  your  body  lead 
to  any  material  discovery? — A.  Yes. 

The  child  however  had  a  tolerable  night,  having  pre- 
viously had  a  fit  which  greatly  fatigued  her,  and  the  spirit 
was  not  remarkably  troublesome, 

On  the  night  of  Friday  the  22d  of  January,  the  girl 
was  again  removed,  and  conveyed  to  the  house  of  the 

matron 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST.  79 

matron  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital.  Her  being  there 
was  kept  secret,  to  prevent  a  multitude  from  collecting 
round  it,  which  would  have  greatly  obstructed  the  method 
intended  to  be  adopted  for  the  discovery  of  the  imposition, 
if  any  were  employed. 

About  twenty  persons  sat  up  in  the  room,  but  it  was  not 
till  near  six  in  the  morning  that  the  first  alarm  was  given, 
which  coming  spontaneously  as  well  as  suddenly,  a  good 
deal  struck  the  imagination  of  those  present.  The  scratch- 
ing was  compared  to  that  of  a  cat  on  a  cane  chair.  The 
child  now  appeared  to  be  in  a  sound  sleep,  and  nothing 
farther  could  be  obtained.  It  had  been  observed  by  a 
person  in  conversation,  who  expressed  his  opinion  with 
great  warmth,  that  the  whole  affair  was  an  imposture; 
this  caused  some  altercation  in  the  company,  some  be- 
lieving, and  some  disbelieving,  the  reality  of  the  spirit. 
When  the  dispute  on  this  subject  commenced,  the  spirit 
took  his  leave,  and  no  more  knocking  or  scratching  was 
heard. 

About  seven  o'clock  the  girl  seemed  to  awake  in  a  vio- 
lent fit  of  crying  and  tears.  On  being  asked  the  occa- 
sion, and  assured  that  no  harm  should  happen  to  her,  she 
declared  that  her  tears  were  the  effect  of  her  imagining  what 
would  become  of  her  father,  who  must  be  ruined  and  undone 
if  the  matter  should  be  supposed  to  be  an  imposture.  She 
was  told  that  the  company  had  taken  her  to  be  in  a  sound 
sleep,  when  the  above  dispute  happened ;  to  which  she 
replied,  "  Aye,  but  not  so  sound  but  that  I  could  hear  all 
you  said."  This  one  would  have  supposed  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  open  the  eyes  of  all  who  were  not  wilfully  blind, 
but  that  was  not  the  case. 

On  Sunday  night  the  girl  lay  at  a   house  opposite  the 
School-house  in  Cock  Lane,  at  which  place  a  person  of 
distinction,    two   clergymen,   and    several    other    persons 
were  present.     Between  ten  and  eleven  the  knocking  be- 
gan, 


80        ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COCK  LANE  GHOST. 

gan ;  the  principal  questions  and  answers  were  the  same 
as  those  already  mentioned.  Among-  some  new  ones  of 
little  consequence  was  the  following  :  "  Will  you  attend 
the  girl  to  any  place  whither  she  may  he  appointed  to  be 
carried  hy  authority  ?" — Answer,  "  Yes."  At  eleven 
o'clock,  eleven  distinct  knocks  were  heard,  and  at  twelve 
o'clock,  twelve.  The  spirit  being  then  asked  if  it  was 
going  away,  and  when  it  would  return  ?  seven  knocks  were 
given.  Accordingly  when  St.  Sepulchre's  clock  struck 
seven,  on  Monday  morning,  the  invisible  agent  knocked 
the  same  number  of  times.  Some  few  questions  were  asked 
at  this  meeting  much  to  the  same  purport  as  those  already 
inserted,  and  answered  in  the  same  manner.  Every  person 
was  put  out  of  the  room,  who  could  be  supposed  to  have 
the  least  connection  with  the  girl ;  her  hands  were  laid  over 
the  bed-clothes,  the  bed  carefully  looked  under,  &c.  but  no 
discovery  was  made. 

The  public  had  now  been  for  some  time  amused  at  least, 
if  not  edified  by  the  extraordinary  pranks  of  this  spirit, 
and  were  by  no  means  unanimous  respecting  the  degree  of 
credit  which  ought  to  be  given  to  its  intimations,  when  the 
following  advertisement  appeared — 

To  the  Public. 

"  We  whose  names  are  hereunder  written,  thought  it 
proper,  upon  the  approbation  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  received 
on  Saturday  last  in  the  afternoon,  to  see  Mr.  Parsons 
yesterday,  and  to  ask  him  in  respect  of  the  time  when 
his  child  should  be  brought  to  Clerkenwell.  He  replied 
in  these  words,  "  that  he  consented  to  the  examination 
proposed,  provided  that  some  persons  connected  with  the 
girl  might  be  permitted  to  be  there,  to  divert  her  in  the 
day-time."  This  was  refused,  being  contrary  to  the  plan. 
He  then  mentioned  a  woman,  whom  he  affirmed  to  be 
unconnected,  and  not  to  have  been  with  her.  On  being- 
sent 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST.  81 

sent  for  she  came,  and  was  a  person  well  known  by  us  to 
have  been  constantly  with  her,  and  very  intimate  with 
the  familiar,  as  she  is  called.  Upon  this  Mr.  Parsons  re- 
commended an  unexceptionable  person,  the  daughter  of 
a  relation,  who  was  a  gentleman  of  fortune.  After  an 
enquiry  into  her  character,  he  informed  us,  that  this  un- 
exceptionable person  had  disobliged  her  father  and  was 
out  at  service.  On  this  we  answered,  "Mr.  Parsons,  if 
you  can  procure  any  person  or  persons  of  strict  character 
and  reputation  who  are  housekeepers,  such  will  be  with 
pleasure  admitted."  Upon  this  he  requested  a  little  time. 
Instead  of  coining,  as  he  promised,  and  we  expected, 
one  William  Lloyd  came  by  his  direction,  and  said  as 
follows  :  — 

"  Mr.  Parsons  chooses  first  to  consult  with  his  friends, 
before  he  gives  a  positive  answer  concerning  the  removal 
of  his  daughter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Aldrich's. 

(Signed  William  Lloyd,  Brook-street,  Holborn." 

Within  three  hours  after  we  received  another  message 
from  Mr.  Parsons  by  the  same  hand,  to  wit : — 

"  If  the  Lord  Mayor  will  give  his  approbation,  the 
child  shall  be  removed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Aldrich's." 

"  The  plan  above-mentioned  was  thus  set  forth  ;  the 
girl  was  to  be  brought  to  the  house  of  the  said  clergy- 
man (the  llcv.  Mr.  Aldrich,)  without  any  person  what- 
ever that  had,  or  was  supposed  to  have  the  least  connec- 
tion with  her.  The  father  was  to  be  there ;  not  suffered 
to  be  in  the  room,  but  in  a  parlour,  where  there  could  be 
no  sort  of  communication,  attended  with  a  proper  person. 
A  bed,  without  any  furniture,  was  to  be  set  in  the  middle 
of  a  large  room,  and  the  chairs  to  be  phiced  round  it. 
The  persons  to  be  present  were  some  of  the  clergy,  a 
physician,  surgeon,  apothecary,  and  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  The  child  was  to  be  undressed,  examined,  and 

Eccentric,  No.  1L  M  put 


82  ACCOUNT    OF   THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST. 

put  to  bed,  by  a  lady  of  character  and  fortune.  Gen- 
tlemen of  established  character,  both  of  clergy  and  laity, 
(among  whom  was  a  noble  Lord,  who  desired  to  attend) 
were  to  have  been  present  at  the  examination.  We  have 
done,  and  still  are  ready  to  do,  every  thing  in  our  power  to 
detect  an  imposture,  if  any,  of  the  most  unhappy  tendency, 
both  to  the  public  and  individuals. 

Ste.  Aldrich,  Rector  of  St.  John's,  Clerkenwell. 

James  Penn,  Lecturer  of  St.  Ann's,  Aldersgate." 

In  pursuance  of  the  above  plan,  many  gentlemen  emi- 
nent for  their  rank  and  their  character,  by  the  invitation 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Aldrich,  of  Clerkenwell,  assembled  at 
his  house  the  31st  of  January,  and  the  nest  day  ap- 
peared the  following  account  of  what  passed  on  the  oc- 
casion : — 

"  About  ten  at  night  the  gentlemen  met  in  the  cham- 
ber in  which  the  girl,  supposed  to  be  disturbed  by  a  spirit, 
had  with  proper  caution  been  put  to  bed  by  several  ladies. 
They  sat  rather  more  than  an  hour,  and  hearing  nothing, 
went  clown  stairs,  where  they  interrogated  the  father  of 
the  girl,  who  denied  in  the  strongest  terms,  any  know- 
ledge or  belief  of  fraud. 

"  As  the  supposed  spirit  had  before  publicly  promised,  by 
an  affirmative  knock,  that  it  would  attend  one  of  the  gentle- 
men into  the  vault,  under  the  church  of  St.  John,  Clerken- 
well, where  the  body  is  deposited,  and  give  a  token  of  its 
presence  there  by  a  knock  upon  the  coffin,  it  was  therefore 
determined  to  make  this  trial  of  the  existence  or  veracity 
of  the  supposed  spirit. 

"  While  they  were  enquiring  and  deliberating,  they 
were  summoned  into  the  girl's  chamber  by  some  ladies, 
who  were  near  her  bed  and  had  heard  knocks  and  scratches. 
When  the  gentlemen  entered,  the  girl  declared  that 
she  felt  the  spirit  like  a  mouse  upon  her  back ;  and  was 

required 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LA>TE    GHOST.  83 

required  to  hold  her  hands  out  of  bed.  From  that  time, 
though  the  spirit  was  very  solemnly  required  to  manifest 
its  existence  by  appearance,  by  impression  on  the  hand 
or  body  of  any  present,  by  scratches,  knocks,  or  any 
agency,  no  evidence  of  any  preternatural  power  was  ex- 
hibited. 

"The  spirit  was  then  seriously  advertised  that  the  per- 
son, to  whom  the  promise  was  made  of  striking  the  coffin, 
was  then  about  to  visit  the  vault,  and  that  the  perform- 
ance of  the  promise  was  then  claimed.  The  company,  at 
one,  went  into  the  church,  and  the  gentleman  to  whom 
the  promise  was  made,  went  with  one  more  into  the  vault. 
The  spirit  was  solemnly  required  to  perform  its  promise, 
but  nothing  more  than  silence  ensued.  The  person  sup- 
posed to  be  accused  by  the  ghost,  then  went  down  with 
several  others,  but  no  effect  was  perceived.  On  their  re- 
turn they  examined  the  girl,  but  could  draw  no  confes- 
sion from  her.  Between  two  and  three  she  desired  and 
was  permitted  to  go  home  to  her  father. 

"  It  is  therefore  the  opinion  of  the  whole  assembly  that 
the  child  has  some  art  of  making  or  counterfeiting  parti- 
cular noises,  and  that  there  is  no  agency  of  any  higher 
cause." 

To  elude  the  force  of  this  conclusion,  it  was  given  out 
that  the  coffin  in  which  the  body  of  the  supposed  ghost 
had  been  deposited,  or  at  least  the  body  itself,  had  been 
displaced,  or  removed  out  of  the  vault.  Mr.  Kernpe, 
therefore,  thought  proper  to  take  with  him  to  the  vault, 
the  undertaker  who  buried  Miss  Fanny,  and  such  other 
unprejudiced  persons,  as,  on  inspection,  might  be  able  to 
prove  the  fallacy  of  such  a  suggestion. 

Accordingly  in  the  afternoon  of  the  25th  of  February, 
Mr.  Kempc,  with  a  clergyman,  the  undertaker,  clerk, 
and  sexton  of  the  parish,  and  two  or  three  gentlemen, 
went  into  the  vault,  when  the  undertaker  presently  knew 

M  2  the 


84  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST. 

the  coffin,  which  was  taken  from  under  the  others,  and 
easily  seen  to  be  the  same,  as  there  was  no  plate  or  in- 
scription. As  a  farther  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Kempe,  the 
coffin  was  opened  in  his  presence,  and  the  hody  found 
in  it. 

Other  persons,  in  the  mean  time,  were  taking  different 
steps  to  find  out  where  the  fraud,  if  any,  lay.  The  girl 
was  removed  from  one  place  to  another,  and  was  said  to 
be  constantly  attended  with  the  usual  noises,  though 
bound  and  muffled  hand  and  foot,  and  that  without  any 
motion  in  her  lips,  and  when  she  appeared  to  be  asleep  ; 
nay,  they  were  often  said  to  be  heard  in  rooms  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  that  where  she  lay. 

She  was  at  last  removed  to  the  house  of  a  gentleman, 
where  her  bed  was  tied  up  in  the  manner  of  a  hammock, 
about  a  yard  and  a  half  from  the  ground,  and  her  hands 
and  feet  extended  as  wide  as  they  could  be  without  injury, 
and  fastened  with  fillets  for  two  nights  successively,  during 
which  no  noises  were  heard. 

The  next  day  being  pressed  to  confess,  and  being  told, 
that  if  the  knocking  and  scratching  were  not  heard  any 
more,  she  with  her  father  and  mother  would  be  sent  to 
Newgate ;  and  half  an  hour  being  given  her  to  consider, 
she  desired  she  might  be  put  to  bed,  to  try  if  the  noises 
would  come.  She  lay  in  bed  this  night  much  longer  than 
usual,  but  there  were  no  noises.  This  was  on  a  Sa- 
turday. 

Being  told  on  Sunday,  that  the  ensuing  night  only 
would  be  allowed  for  a  trial,  she  concealed  a  board  about 
four  inches  broad,  and  six  long,  under  her  stays  ;  this 
board  had  been  used  to  set  the  kettle  upon.  Having  got 
into  bed  she  told  the  gentlemen  she  would  bring  Fanny  at 
six  the  next  morning. 

The  master  of  the  house  and  one  of  his  friends,  be- 
ing, however,  informed  by  the  maid?,  that  the  girl  had 

taken 


ACCOUNT    OF   THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST.  85 

taken  a  board  to  bed  with  her,  impatiently  waited  for  the 
appointed  hour,  when  she  began  to  knock  and  scratch  upon 
the  board  :  remarking  at  the  same  time,  what  they  them- 
selves were  convinced  of,  that  "  these  noises  were  not  like 
those  which  used  to  be  made."  She  was  then  told  that  she 
had  taken  a  board  to  bed,  and  on  her  denying  it,  was 
searched  and  caught  in  the  lie. 

The  two  gentlemen,  who,  with  the  maids,  were  the 
only  persons  present  at  this  scene,  sent  to  a  third  gentle- 
man, to  acquaint  him  that  the  whole  affair  was  detected, 
and  to  desire  his  immediate  attendance.  He  complied 
with  their  request,  and  brought  another  along  with  him. 
They  all  concurred  in  the  opinion  that  the  child  had 
been  frightened  into  this  attempt,  by  the  threats  which 
had  been  made  the  two  preceding  nights.  The  master 
of  the  house,  and  his  friend  both  declared,  "  that  the 
noises  the  girl  had  made  that  morning,  had  not  the  least 
likeness  to  the  former."  Probably  the  organs  with 
which  she  made  those  strange  noises,  were  not  always  in 
a  proper  tone  for  the  purpose,  and  she  imagined  she 
might  be  able  to  supply  the  place  of  them  by  a  piece  of 
board. 

At  length  Mr.  Kempe  thought  proper  to  vindicate  his 
character  in  a  legal  manner.  On  the  10th  of  July  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Parsons,  one  Mary  Fraser,  who  it  appeared  acted  as 
interpreter  between  the  ghost  and  those  who  examined 
her,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moore,  curate  of  St.  Sepulchre's,  and 
Mr.  James,  a  tradesman,  were  tried  at  Guildhall,  before 
Lord  Mansfield  and  a  special  jury,  and  were  convicted 
of  a  conspiracy  against  the  life  and  character  of  Mr. 
Kempe.  The  trial  lasted  twelve  hours,  but  judgment 
was  respited,  as  Lord  Mansfield  wished  to  take  the  opinion 
of  the  other  judges  on  this  extraordinary  case. 

The  court  choosing  that  Mr.  Kempe,  who  had  been  so 

much 


86  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST. 

much  injured  on  the  occasion,  should  receive  some  re- 
paration by  the  punishment  of  the  offenders,  deferred 
passing  sentence  for  seven  or  eight  months,  in  hopes  the 
parties  might  in  the  mean  time  make  up  the  affair. 
Accordingly  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moore  and  Mr.  James  were 
discharged  on  paying  the  prosecutor  3001.  and  his  costs, 
which  amounted  to  nearly  as  much  more.  Brown,  who 
published  the  narrative,  which  we  introduced  in  the  early 
part  of  this  history,  and  Say,  the  printer  of  the  newspaper 
in  which  it  was  made  public,  had  previously  made  their 
peace  with  the  prosecutor. 

As  to  the  grand  culprit  Parsons,  he  was  ordered  to  be 
set  in  the  pillory  three  times  in  one  month,  once  at  the 
end  of  Cock  Lane,  and  after  that  to  be  imprisoned  two 
years,  Elizabeth  his  wife  one  year,  and  Mary  Fraser, 
six  months  in  Bridewell,  and  to  be  there  kept  to  hard 
labour — a  punishment  which  appears  much  too  lenient, 
when  we  consider  the  atrocious  and  malignant  motives 
which  instigated  the  framers  of  this  artful  and  villanous 
contrivance. 

Parsons  appearing  to  be  out  of  his  mind  at  the  time 
he  was  first  to  stand  in  the  pillory,  the  execution  of  that 
part  of  the  sentence  was  deferred  till  another  day  ;  when, 
as  well  as  the  other  days  of  his  public  exhibition,  the  popu- 
lace, instead  of  using  him  ill,  took  so  much  compassion  on 
him,  that  a  handsome  collection  was  made  for  his  use. 
The  term  of  his  confinement  in  the  King's  Bench  prison 
having  expired  on  the  13th  of  February  17G5,  he  was  con- 
sequently discharged. 

Such  was  the  termination  of  an  affair,  which  not  only 
found  partisans  among  the  weak  and  credulous,  but  even 
staggered  many  men  of  extensive  talents  and  sound 
understandings.  A  worthy  clergyman,  whose  faith  was 
stronger  than  his  reason,  and  who  had  warmly  interested 
himself  in  behalf  of  the  reality  of  the  spirit,  was  so  over- 
whelmed 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST.  87 

whelmed  with  grief  and  chagrin,  that  he  did  not  long  sur- 
vive the  detection  of  the  imposture. 

We  shall  conclude  this  article  with  the  following  whim- 
sical jeux  cC  esprit,  which  appeared  at  the  time  relative  to 
this  ludicrous  affair. 

Paris. — There  have  been  lately  held  in  the  Rue  de 
Coq,  several  extraordinary  lits  de  justice,  at  which  some 
of  the  chief  persons  of  the  nation  have  assisted  ;  and 
what  is  extremely  remarkable,  a  Protestant  clergyman 
has  voluntarily  administered  MORE  than  extreme  unction 
to  a  ghost.  (From  the  Paris  a  la  Main.) 

Lisbon. — Several  of  the  Jesuits  who  were  exiled  from 
this  country,  have  gone  over  to  England  in  disguise. 
The  effects  of  their  horrible  machinations  begin  to  dis- 
cover themselves  already  in  the  mysterious  affair  of  the 
spirit  in  Cock  Lane,  which  engrosses  the  attention  of  the 
whole  British  nation.  We  are  assured  by  some  gentle- 
men of  the  English  factory,  that  the  obsolete  laws 
against  witchcraft  will  speedily  be  revived  in  Great 
Britain. 

Ireland,  (Dublin.} — We  hear  from  London,  that  the 
apparition  in  Cock  Lane,  has  never  been  seen  by  nobody. 
(Eaulkner's  Journal.) 

Scotland.,  (Glasgow.') — The  seventh  son  of  a  seventh 
son  is  just  set  out  on  a  walk  to  London,  in  order  to  visit 
the  spirit  in  Cock  Lane  ;  and  as  this  gentleman  is  blessed 
with  the  faculty  of  second  sight,  it  is  thought  he  will  be 
able  to  see  her.  The  spirit's  great  propensity  to  scratch- 
ing, makes  it  generally  supposed  here,  that  Miss  Fanny 
died  of  the  itch  rather  than  of  the  small-pox,  and  that 
the  ghost  is  certainly  mangy. 

London. — We  hear  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moore  is  prepar- 
ing a  new  work  for  the  use  of  families,  especially  children, 
10  be  published  in  weekly  numbers,  called  the  Ghost's 

Cal.ec/iiym, 


88  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    COCK    LANE    GHOST. 

Catechism.     We  have  been  favoured  with  a  manuscript  of 
the  Creed,  which  is  as  follows :  — 

MR.  MOORE'S  BELIEF. 

I  believe  in  signs,  omens,  tokens,  dreams,  visions,  spi- 
rits, ghosts,  spectres,  and  apparitions;  and  in  Mary  Tofts, 
who  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  couple  of  rabbits ;  and  in 
Elizabeth  Canning,  who  lived  a  whole  month  without 
performing  the  usual  offices  of  nature,  on  six  crusts  of 
dry  bread,  and  half  a  jug  of  water;  and  in  Arnold 
Bauer,  who  made  his  escape  from  the  inquisition  at  Ma- 
cerata;  and  in  all  the  miracles  of  the  holy  Roman  Ca- 
tholic Church. 

I  believe  in  fairies,  I  believe  in  witches,  I  believe  in 
hobgoblins,  I  believe  in  the  shrieking  woman,  I  believe 
in  the  death-watch,  I  believe  in  the  death-howl,  I  believe 
in  Raw-head  and  Bloody-bones,  I  believe  in  all  stories, 
tales,  legends,  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c. 
&c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c. 

We  are  assured  that  the  ghost  will  continue  to  hold  her 
rout  in  Cock  Lane,  and  her  DRUM  at  the  two  theatres. 


MISS  FANNY'S  THEATRE  IN 

COCK  LANE. 
By  particular  desire  of  several  persons 

of  Quality. 
To-morrow  evening,  being  the  [6th  instant, 

will  Ic  performed, 

AN  ENTERTAINMENT  OF 

SCRATCHING  AND  KNOCKING, 

Of  Three  Acts, 
Each  Act  to  conclude  with 

A  FLUTTER. 
fledx  lO.s'.  6(L — Chairs  6s. — Standing  2s  6d. 

To  begin  precisely  at  Twelve  o'clock. 

JVo  Money  to  be  returned  after  tin-  First  Scratch,  and 

nothing  under  flic  full  Price  will  be  taken. 


SOME  ACCOUNT   OF   THOMAS   INGLEFIELD,  who  was  born 
without  Arms  or  Legs. 

C  With  a  Portrait.} 

JLT  is  a  proposition  which,  though  trite,  is  not  the  less 
true,  that  nature  compensates  for  the  deficiencies  observed 
in  some  of  her  works,  by  peculiar  advantages.  Thus 
among  the  animals  with  which  she  has  peopled  the  surface 
of  the  globe,  we  universally  find  that  what  one  wants  in 
strength  or  courage,  it  possesses  in  artifice  and  cunning.  In 
the  same  manner,  the  mole,  whose  defect  of  the  organs  of 
sight  is  so  notorious,  is  endowed  with  powers  of  hearing  so 
acute  and  so  delicate,  as  to  be  enabled  by  means  of  them, 
to  shun  the  most  imminent  dangers  with  which  it  may  be 
threatened.  That  this  principle  likewise  extends  to  the 
human  species,  the  subject  of  the  present  article  furnishes 
a  remarkable  instance. 

Thomas  Inglefield  was  born  December  18,  1769,  at 
Hook,  in  Hampshire.  He  came  into  the  world  without 
either  arms  or  legs;  and  this  extraordinary  conformation 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  consequence  of  a  fright 
which  his  mother  experienced  during  her  pregnancy. 
Though  nature,  by  denying  him  those  members  appeared 
to  have  rendered  him  unfit  for  almost  all  the  purposes 
of  life,  yet  she  had  bestowed  on  him  such  industry  and 
ingenuity,  that,  notwithstanding  the  great  disadvantages 
under  which  he  laboured,  he. acquired  the  arts  of  writing 
and  drawing.  For  a  person  in  his  situation,  these  exer- 
tions appear  almost  incredible  :  but  it  is  not  the  less  true, 
that  Mr.  Inglefield  himself  etched  portraits  and  other 
drawings  very  neatly.  The  manner  in  which,  by  long- 
practice,  lie  attained  the  facility  of  performing  these 
operations,  was  by  holding  his  pencil  between  the  stump 
Eccentric,  No.  II.  N  of 


90  AN    ECCENTRIC    MISER. 

of  his  left  arm  and   his  cheek,  and  guiding   it  with  the 
muscles  of  his  mouth. 

Mr.  Inglefield  resided  some  years  since  at  No.  8,  in 
Chapel-street,  Tottenham-court-road,  London,  and  was 
visited  hy  most  of  the  nobility  and  gentry,  to  witness  his 
performances,  by  which  he  obtained  many  presents  ;  but 
whether  he  is  still  living  or  not,  we  have  not  been  able  to 
ascertain. 

Many  instances  of  the  ingenuity  of  persons  in  a  similar 
situation,  both  in  this  and  in  foreign  countries,  might  be 
adduced.  One  or  two  will  suffice  : — Joseph  Fahaye  was 
born  at  Spa,  in  the  bishopric  of  Liege,  and  exhibited 
himself  at  Paris  in  1779.  He  was  born  without  arms, 
but  employed  his  feet  for  all  the  purposes  of  hands.  He 
could  help  himself  to  eat  and  drink,  take  snuff,  used  a 
tooth-pick  after  his  meals,  mended  his  pens,  arid  wrote  a 
neat  hand.  lie  could  thread  a  needle,  and  make  a  knot 
at  the  end  of  the  thread  with  admirable  dexterity.  He 
could  play  at  cards,  tetotam,  and  cup  and  ball,  could 
charge  and  fire  a  pistol,  could  spin  wool  and  cotton,  and 
turn  the  wheel  at  the  same  time;  he  could  carry  a  chair, 
and  dig  with  a  spade,  and  cultivated  his  garden  himself. 
Before  his  removal  to  Paris  he  had  been  the  school-master 
of  the  village,  where  he  generally  had  between  fifty  and  sixty 
pupils. 

A  similar  phenomenon  was  seen  at  Vienna  in  the  year 
1777.  It  was  a  young  man  born  without  arms  and  hands, 
who  painted  portraits  extremely  well  with  his  toes.  Being 
born  of  a  genteel  family,  he  did  not  make  an  exhibition 
of  himself,  and  only  worked  in  the  presence  of  his  friends 
and  acquaintance. 


ECCENTRIC  MISER. 


M, 


.R.  SAMUEL  STRETCH,  who  died  at  Madeley,  in  Staf- 
fordshire, on  the  15th  of  November,  1H04,  may  with  justice 

be 


AN    ECCENTRIC    MISER.  91 

be  ranked  in  the  catalogue  of  eccentric  misers.  He  was 
a  native  of  Market  Drayton,  in  Shropshire,  and  the 
early  part  of  his  life  was  spent  as  a  private  in  the  army, 
in  which  capacity  he  experienced  some  service,  in  righting 
the  battles  of  his  country. 

He  has  long  resided  in  an  obscure  dwelling  at  Made- 
ley,  into  which  he  has  not  for  many  years  admitted  either 
male  or  female  ;  and  this  habitation  was  a  scene  of  per- 
fect wretchedness.  About  fifteen  years  since  he  pur- 
chased a  load  of  coals,  part  of  which  he  left  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  His  chief  employment  was  to  go  round 
to  the  neighbouring  towns,  carrying  letters  and  parcels, 
and  performing  any  little  commissions  with  which  his 
neighbours  might  entrust  him.  His  person  bespoke  the 
most  abject  penury  ;  he  usually  appeared  'in  an  old 
slouched  hat  and  tattered  garments,  scarcely  sufficient  to 
cover  his  nakedness,  with  a  ragged  bag  hung  over  his 
shoulder,  in  which  he  mostly  carried  a  little  parsley,  or 
some  other  kind  of  herb,  the  produce  of  his  garden. 
These  he  generally  offered  as  a  present  at  the  different 
places  where  he  had  to  do  business,  and  when  accepted, 
he  took  care  to  deal  them  out  with  a  very  sparing  hand. 
This  show  of  generosity,  together  with  his  eccentric  ad- 
dress and  conversation,  usually  produced  him  a  tenfold 
return.  On  searching  his  tattered  satchel,  after  his 
death,  it  was  found  to  contain  old  bones,  soles  of  shoes, 
pieces  of  paper,  &c.  which  articles  he  usually  collected 
in  his  peregrinations.  His  stock  of  linen  consisted  of 
two  old  shirts  and  a  pair  of  sheets  ;  and  in  his  hut  were 
found  several  articles  of  silver  plate,  &c. 

His  death  was  occasioned  by  a  violent  cold,  brought 
on  by  his  falling  into  a  ditch,  in  a  state  of  intoxication, 
on  his  return  from  Newcastle,  the  Saturday  preceding. 
In  consequence  of  hie  penurious  disposition  he  had 
amassed  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  exclusive  of  a 

N  2  loss 


99  SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF   AN    IMPOSTOR. 

loss  of  500/.  which  he  experienced  some  years  ago.  He 
has  left  part  of  it  to  purchase  an  additional  bell  for  the 
church  at  Madeley,  and  an  annual  salary  for  it  to  be  rung 
every  night  at  nine  o'clock  during  the  autumn  months, 
and  at  eight  in  winter ;  a  chandelier  for  the  church  ;  a 
bell  for  the  use  of  the  free  school ;  five  pounds  per  an- 
num towards  the  salary  of  the  organist  of  that  place ;  a 
like  sum  for  the  organist  of  Drayton  ;  a  farther  sum  to 
be  applied  to  the  enlarging  and  repairing  the  alms  house 
of  Madeley,  and  clothing  and  educating  two  poor  children, 
until  of  a  proper  age  to  be  put  apprentice ;  and  to  his 
relations  two  shillings  and  six-pence  each.  He  has  nomi- 
nated six  executors,  J.  Crewe,  Esq.  of  Crewe  Hall,  the 
Rev.  Offley  Crewe,  of  Muxon,  the  Rev.  B.  Stoer,  of  Ma- 
deley, the  minister  of  Drayton,  Mr.  Wilkinson,  of  Madeley 
Manor,  and  Mr.  Taylor,  Madeley  Heath. 


Singular    History    of    a   REMARKABLE    IMPOSTOR,    who 
styled  himself  the  Hereditary  PRINCE  of  MOD  EN  A. 


all  the  impostors,  who,  by  favour  of  an  assumed 
name,  have  obtained  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  distinc- 
tion on  the  theatre  of  the  world,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able, on  account  of  the  singular  circumstances  which  fa- 
voured his  artifices,  is  a  young  man  who  about  the  middle 
of  the  last  century  appeared  at  Martinico,  by  the  title  of 
the  Hereditary  Prince  of  Modena.  The  following  narra- 
tive of  facts,  relative  to  this  youth,  is  by  an  eye-witness, 
who  having  never  been  deluded,  like  a  great  number,  by 
his  artifices,  cannot  be  suspected  of  having  exaggerated 
the  very  extraordinary  circumstances  which  led  to  that 
delusion. 

At  the  beginning   of  the  year    1748,  when  France  was 
still  at  war  with  Great  Britain,  a  small  merchant-man 

from 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  93 

from  Rochcllc,  made  for  the  cul-dc-sac  of  Marin,  the  port 
of  Martinico,  but  was  so  closely  pursued  by  the  English 
cruisers  which  blocked  up  the  harbour,  that  the  Captain, 
finding  it  impossible  to  save  his  ship  and  cargo,  resolved 
at  least  to  make  an  attempt  to  escape  being  taken  pri- 
soner, and  with  his  whole  crew  betook  himself  to  his  boat, 
by  means  of  which  they  arrived  on  shore  in  safety,  but 
with  the  loss  of  all  they  possessed. 

Besides  his  crew,  which  was  not  numerous,  he  had  on 
board  a  young  man,  18  or  19  years  of  age,  of  a  figure 
rather  agreeable  than  handsome,  and  regular,  of  dignified 
demeanour,  though  of  the  middling  stature,  but  particu- 
larly remarkable  for  the  whiteness  and  extreme  delicacy 
of  his  skin,  which  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  was  a  per- 
son of  rank.  He  said  tbat  his  name  was  the  Count  do 
Tarnaud,  the  son  of  a  Field  Marshal ;  and  the  respectful 
behaviour  of  the  crew,  appeared  to  announce  a  still 
more  elevated  dignity.  He  had  embarked  without  any 
attendant,  and  the  only  person  who  appeared  particularly 
attached  to  him  was  a  young  seaman,  about  24  years  of 
age,  called  Rhodez,  with  whom  he  became  acquainted 
during  the  voyage.  The  young  man  seemed  to  possess 
his  unlimited  confidence  ;  but  on  the  part  of  Rhodez  this 
intimacy  never  produced  familiarity  ;  and  the  most 
marked  demonstrations  of  respect  manifested  his  con- 
sideration for  the  stranger. 

The  latter,  upon  going  on  shore,  enquired  for  some 
creditable  inhabitant  of  the  island,  in  whose  house  he 
might  find  lodging  and  relief.  He  was  directed  to  the 
habitation  of  an  officer  called  Duval  Ferrol,  situated 
near  the  place  where  he  landed.  Thither  he  repaired, 
with  no  other  recommendation  than  the  misfortune  he 
had  so  recently  experienced.  Being  received  Avith  the 
greatest  hospitality,  he  took  up  his  abode  there,  together 
with  Rhodez.  At  this  place  every  attention  was  be- 
stowed 


94  SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR. 

stowed  upon  him  ;  he  appeared  rather  to  receive  them  as 
his  due  than  as  a  kindness ;  and  though  abundance  of 
questions  were  asked,  he  eluded  them  by  vague  answers. 
The  mysterious  conduct  of  Rhodez  kept  alive  and  in- 
creased the  curiosity  thus  excited,  and  it  began  to  be  di- 
rected the  more  powerfully  towards  the  young  stranger,  as 
the  captain,  when  questioned  concerning  him,  absolutely 
refused  to  answer  any  interrogatory.  He  only  informed 
the  governor  of  the  cul-de-sac  Marin  as  a  secret,  that  the 
young  man  had  been  brought  to  him  by  a  merchant,  who 
had  privately  recommended  him,  without  giving  any 
farther  explanation,  to  treat  him  with  great  attention,  as, 
he  said,  he  was  a  person  of  distinction. 

Every  thing  indeed,  relating  to  this  individual,  ap- 
peared mysterious  and  extraordinary.  He  had  been  seen 
to  arrive  at  Rochelle,  as  it  was  afterwards  discovered, 
some  time  before  his  embarkation.  He  was  at  this  time 
accompanied  by  an  elderly,  grey-headed  man,  who  ap- 
peared to  perform  the  office  of  a  Mentor.  It  was  not 
known  by  what  conveyance  they  had  come.  Both  were 
dressed  with  the  greatest  simplicity.  On  their  arrival  at 
Rochelle,  instead  of  putting  up  at  an  inn,  they  hired  a 
small  apartment  at  a  private  house,  which  they  immedi- 
ately furnished  at  their  own  expence,  without  luxury  or 
splendour,  but  in  a  very  decent  manner.  During  his  re- 
sidence at  that  town  the  young  man  had  lived  very  re- 
tired, never  going  abroad,  seeing  no  person,  and  living 
on  scarcely  any  thing  but  shell-fish,  and  principally  fresh 
water  crabs,  which  are  extremely  scarce  and  dear  at 
Rochelle. 

The  old  man,  on  the  contrary,  often  went  abroad  ;  it 
appeared  as  if  his  principal  business  was  to  find  an  op- 
portunity of  embarking  his  pupil,  which,  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  with  England,  did  not  often  occur. 
At  length  an  occasion  offered  ;  and  on  the  departure  of  the 

youth 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  95 

youth  to  go  on  board,  the  woman  at  whose  house  he 
lodged,  asked  him  what  he  intended  to  do  with  his  fur- 
niture, to  which  he  replied,  "  Keep  it  to  remember  me 
by."  His  conductor,  though  a  witness  to  this  generous 
proceeding,  scarcely  appeared  to  take  notice  of  it.  This 
present  might  be  estimated  at  about  500  livres  ;  but  what 
was  most  extraordinary,  the  donor  did  not  take  with  him 
money  and  effects  to  a  much  greater  amount,  and  from 
his  conduct  on  his  first  arrival  at  Martinico,  it  could  not 
be  presumed  that  he  possessed  any  certain  resources  there. 
Nothing,  however,  seemed  to  give  him  any  uneasiness 
during  the  passage.  His  manners  had  been  constantly 
noble,  without  prodigality.  The  crew  being  reduced  to 
ereat  extremity  by  hunger,  at  the  time  when,  to  avoid 
the  English  cruisers,  they  were  obliged  to  keep  close 
along  the  coast,  in  the  shallop,  in  which  they  had  not 
time  to  take  provisions  with  them,  he  bought  of  one  of 
the  natives  who  was  passing  in  his  canoe,  the  refresh- 
ments which  he  was  conveying  to  his  habitation,  and  dis- 
tributed them  among  the  sailors.  The  latter,  as  may 
easily  be  conceived,  were  inspired  with  increased  respect 
for  the  young  passenger,  whom  they  had  before  concluded 
to  be  a  person  of  distinction,  from  the  mysterious  recom- 
mendations to  the  captain. 

These  particulars  were  soon  reported  in  the  island,  arid 
the  crew  added,  that  the  young  passenger  had  been  taken 
ill  on  board  the  ship;  that  he  was  treated  with  the  utmost 
care  and  attention,  which  he  received  with  great  benig- 
nity, but  mixed  with  a  certain  degree  of  haughtiness. 
During  this  indisposition,  Rhodez,  by  the  captain's  di- 
rections, never  quitted  the  patient,  and  it  was  on  this  oc- 
casion that  the  confidence  of  the  one,  and  the  extraor- 
dinary attachment  of  the  other  seemed  to  have  com- 
menced. 

These  circumstances  were  more  than  sufficient  to  afe- 

tract 


96  SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR. 

tract  attention  and  excite  curiosity.  It  was  instantly 
known  throughout  the  whole  colony,  that  a  person  of 
high  rank  had  arrived ;  all  the  circumstances  attending 
his  embarkation  were  related  ;  the  facts  were  altered, 
magnified,  and  multiplied  ;  and  before  the  young  stranger 
had  been  four  days  in  the  island  he  was  the  subject  of  an 
infinite  number  of  ridiculous  suppositions,  of  romances 
each  more  astonishing  than  the  other,  all  of  which  were 
repeated  with  equal  assurance,  and  heard  with  equal 
avidity. 

After  a  few  days,  Duval  Ferrol  informed  the  stranger 
that  as  he  did  not  know  him,  and  was  only  a  subaltern, 
he  could  not  dispense  with  acquainting  the  king's  lieu- 
tenant, who  commanded  at  the  cul-de-sac  Marin,  of  his 
arrival ;  and  that  the  latter  requested  to  see  him  at  his 
house.  The  young  man  complied ;  and  presented  him- 
self as  the  Count  de  Tarnaud.  The  commandant  having 
heard  the  reports  propagated  concerning  the  stranger,  de- 
termined to  unravel  the  mystery,  and  with  that  view 
offered  him  the  use  of  his  house  and  table,  which  was  ac- 
cepted by  Tarnaud.  Rhodez  did  not  leave  him,  but  re- 
moved with  him  to  the  house  of  the  commandant,  M. 
Nadau,  thus  seemingly  avowing  a  kind  of  voluntary  de- 
pendence, which  he  did  not  endeavour  to  conceal. 

Two  days  after  young  Tarnaud's  removal  to  the  com- 
mandant's, the  latter  had  company  to  dinner,  and  just  as 
they  were  sitting  down  to  table,  the  young  man  found 
that  he  had  forgotten  his  handkerchief,  on  which  Rho- 
dez got  up  and  fetched  it  for  him.  The  company  gazed 
at  each  other ;  for  a  white  to  wait  upon  a  white  is  in  the 
West  Indies  an  unheard-of — a  dishonourable  submission, 
(excepting  it  Avere  a  prince,  or  at  least  the  governor  of 
the  island,)  to  which  not  even  the  meanest  colonist  would 
submit.  It  was  immediately  surmised  that  Rhodez,  who 
was  of  a  respectable  family,  liberal  education,  and  ac- 
quainted 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  97 

quainted  with  the  custom  of  the  place,  would  certainly 
not  degrade  himself  in  that  manner  for  a  mere  gentle- 
man. 

The  companj',  however,  went  to  table,  and  in  the 
middle  of  dinner,  Nadau  received  a  letter  from  Duval 
Ferrol  to  the  following  effect :  "  You  wish  for  information 

o 

relative  to  the  French  passenger  who  lodged  with  me  some 
days  ;  his  signature  wil!  furnish  more  than  I  am  able  to 
give.  I  enclose  you  a  letter  I  have  just  received  from 
him." 

Nadau  cast  his  eyes  on  the  letter  inclosed  by  Duval : 
it  contained  nothing  but  expressions  of  thanks,  written 
in  a  very  bad  style,  but  he  was  confounded  to  find  that  it 
was  signed  Est,  and  not  Tarnaud.  Immediately  after 
dinner,  lie  took  aside  one  of  his  friends,  to  whom  he 
communicated  the  contents  of  the  packet  he  had  re- 
ceived. The  latter  instantly  repaired  to  the  house  of  the 
Marquis  d'Eragny,  which  was  at  no  great  distance.  The 
Marquis  was  still  at  table  with  several  persons  who  were 
dining  with  him ;  the  conversation  soon  turned  on  the 
young  stranger,  and  the  person  who  had  last  arrived  men- 
tioned what  had  just  happened  at  Nadau's.  On  hearing 
the  name  of  Est  they  were  astonished  ;  they  endeavoured 
to  discover  who  it  could  be,  and  by  the  assistance  of  the 
calendar,  concluded  that  the  stranger  must  be  Hercules 
Renaud  cl'Est,  hereditary  Prince  of  Modena,  and  bro- 
ther of  the  Duchess  of  Penthievre.  It  was  thought  ex- 
tremely easy  to  discover  whether  this  was  the  fact,  for 
one  of  the  persons  present,  whose  name  was  JBois-Ferme, 
and  who  was  brother-in-law  to  the  commandant,  de- 
clared that  he  had  several  times  been  in  company  witii 
the  Prince  the  year  before;  and  another  had  seen  him 
with  the  army.  They  therefore  resolved  to  ascertain  the 
matter;  and  meanwhile  pushed  abort  the  bottle,  till  the 
evening,  when  the  whole  company,  mounting  ihc-ir 

Eccentric,  j\7o.  III.  o  horses 


98  SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR. 

horses,  arrived  at  the  house  of  the  commandant,  who  was 
just  going1  to  supper.  They  fixed  their  eyes  on  the 
stranger,  and  Bois-Ferme  exclaimed,  that  it  was  certainly 
he.  Bois-Ferme,  indeed,  never  spoke  a  word  of  truth, 
not  even  when  he  was  drunk.*  He  was  supported  by  the. 
other  officer,  who  went  to  the  governor,  and  said  :  "  You 
have  in  your  house  the  hereditary  Prince  of  Modena." 
The  company  was  scarcely  seated  at  table,  when  the 
sound  of  instruments  was  heard  :  they  were  bugle  horns, 
brought  by  Bois-Ferme  ;  who,  with  his  friends,  drank 
with  repeated  cheers  to  the  health  of  Hercules  Renaud 
d'Est,  hereditary  Prince  of  Modena.  The  person  on 
whose  account  this  scene  was  acted,  at  first  appeared 
astonished  and  embarrassed,  and  afterwards  testified  his 
dissatisfaction  at  such  an  indiscretion. 

At  this  juncture  the  French  colonies,  and  especially 
Martinico,  were  in  a  very  critical  situation.  It  was 
blocked  up  by  the  English,  and  in  extreme  want  of  pro- 
visions. These  could  be  procured  only  from  Curagoa 
and  St.  Eustatia;  but  this  resource,  which  of  itself  was 
extremely  expensive,  was  rendered  still  more  so  by  the 
avidity  of  a  few.  who  were  intent  only  on  augmenting 
their  private  fortunes  by  the  public  misery.  At  the  head 
of  these  men  was  the  Marquis  de  Caylus,  governor 
of  the  windward  islands,  who  resided  at  Martinico,  a 
man,  the  derangement  of  whose  affairs  caused  him  to 
listen  to  a  great  number  of  projectors,  who  involved  him 
in  speculations,  of  which  they  derived  all  the  profit,  and 
he  the  odium.  A  general  discontent  was  thus  excited 


*  This  inan  had  a  negro  called  La  Plume,  who  waited  on  him  at  table, 
and  whom  he  taught  to  pronounce  only  the  French  word  "  Oui." — "  Is  it 
not  true,  La  Pluine ?"  said  his  master,  turning  towards  him  whenever  he 
had  been  practising  with  the  long  bow.  "  Oui,"  invariably  and  laconically 
replied  La  Plume. 

against 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  99 

against  htm;  it  was  increased  by  the  alarming  prospect 
of  a  famine,  and  waited  only  for  a  proper  opportunity 
to  burst  forth. 

Minds  thus  prepared,  eagerly  hailed  the  intelligence 
of  the  arrival  of  the  supposed  Prince.  What  should 
bring  a  Prince  of  Modena  to  Martinico  was  a  question 
they  never  thought  of  asking  ;  their  imaginations  were 
entirely  occupied  with  the  advantages  which  the  colony 
was  likely  to  derive  from  his  presence.  Nadau,  who  en- 
tertained a  private  pique  against  the  governor,  was  eager 
to  lay  before  his  host  the  complaints  of  the  colony,  to 
acquaint  him  with  the  tricks  of  interested  men  to  raise 
the  price  of  provisions,  and  to  describe  the  misery  result- 
ing from  such  conduct.  The  Prince,  indignant  at  the 
recital,  swore  that  he  would  put  an  end  to  such  villany, 
and  that  he  would  punish  those  who  thus  abused  the  con- 
fidence of  the  king ;  and  should  the  English  effect  a 
landing,  he  would  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  inha- 
bitants to  repulse  them. 

This  declaration,  which  iSadau  did  not  fail  to  repeat, 
augmented  the  general  enthusiasm.  The  fermentation 

o  o 

extended  to  Fort  St.  Pierre,  where  the  Marquis  de  Caylus 
then  was.  The  governor  flattered  himself  that  he  should 
extinguish,  in  a  moment,  the  faction  created  against 
him,  and  ordered  Nadau  to  send  the  stranger,  who  was 
his  guest,  to  St.  Pierre.  Nadau  returned  for  answer,  that 
there  was  no  doubt  but  the  youth  was  the  hereditary 
Prince  of  Modena,  on  which  the  governor  sent  a  letter 
by  two  of  his  officers,  addressed  to  the  Count  de  Tarnaud, 
to  persuade  him  to  repair  to  his  residence.  "  Tell  your 
master,"  replied  the  Prince,  "  that  to  the  rest  of  the  world 
I  am  the  Count  de  Tarnaud,  but  that  to  him  I  am  Her- 
cules de  Renaud  d'Est.  If  he  wishes  to  see  me,  let  him 
come  half-way.  Let  him  repair  to  Fort  Royal,  in  four 
or  five  days  ;  I  will  be  there." 

o  2  The 


100  SINGULAR    HISTOKY    OF    AN    IMFOSTOH. 

The  governor,  struck  with  the  report  made  by  the  offi- 
cers of  the  stranger's  resemblance  to  the  Duchess  of  Pen- 
thievre,  (sister  to  the  hereditary  Prince  of  Modena)  be- 
gan to  yield  to  the  general  conviction.  He  set  out  for 
Fort  Royal,  but  changed  his  mind,  and  returned  to  St. 
Pierre.  The  Prince,  in  pursuance  of  his  appointment, 
repaired  to  Fort  Royal,  and  not  finding  the  governor  at 
that  place,  proceeded  to  St.  Pierre,  which  he  entered  in 
triumph,  attended  by  seventeen  or  eighteen  gentlemen. 
He  sent  word  to  the  Jesuits  to  prepare  for  his  reception  ; 
and  on  his  way  passed  before  the  governor's  house,  who, 
the  moment  he  saw  him,  exclaimed,  that  he  was  the  very 
image  of  his  mother  and  sister ;  and,  as  if  seized  with  a 
panic,  instantly  quitted  St.  Pierre,  and  retired  to  Fort 
Royal,  leaving  the  field  to  his  antagonist. 

The  Prince,  who  was  now  established  at  the  convent 
of  the  Jesuits,  appointed  his  household.  The  Marquis 
d'Eragny  was  his  grand  equerry  ;  Duval  Ferrol  and  Lau- 
rent Dufont  were  his  gentlemen  ;  and  Rhodez  his  page. 
He  kept  a  court,  and  gave  regular  audiences,  which  were 
attended  by  all  those  who  had  memoirs  to  present  against 
the  government,  or  those  officers  of  the  administration 
who  wished  to  pay  their  court  to  him. 

The  Duke  de.  Penthievre  possessed  considerable  pro- 
perty in  the  hands  of  an  agent  at  Martinico.  This  man 
had  not  been  one  of  the  last  to  present  himself  to  his 
master's  brother-in-law.  The  prince  received  him  very 
graciously,  and  had  a  conversation  of  half  an  hour  with 
him,  the  result  of  which  was,  that  all  the  cash  and  pro- 
perty in  his  possession,  were  placed  at  the  disposal  of  his 
Highness.  Had  any  doubts  remained,  relative  to  his 
claim  to  the  title  he  had  assumed,  this  circumstance 
would  have  been  sufficient  to  destroy  them.  Liewain, 
the  agent  of  the  Duke,  was  regarded  as  an  honest  and  a 
prudent  man  ;  lie  was  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  af- 
fairs 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  101 

fairs  and  connections  of  the  house  of  Penthievre,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  it  was  surmised,  that  he  would  not  have 
taken  such  a  step  without  very  strong  reasons. 

The  Dominicans  were  jealous  of  the  honour  conferred 
on  the  Jesuits,  and  the  Prince,  to  satisfy  the  former,  on 
his  return  from  a  short  excursion,  fixed  his  residence  in 
their  convent.  He  was  there  entertained  with  the  greatest 
magnificence.  A  table  of  thirty  covers  was  daily  laid  for 
him,  and  those  whom  he  chose  to  invite  ;  he  dined  in 
public  amidst  the  sound  of  trumpets;  and  the  people 
flocked  in  such  crowds  to  see  him,  that  had  it  not  been 
for  rails  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  hall,  he  would  have 
run  the  risk  of  being  suffocated. 

Never  was  such  a  spectacle  exhibited  at  St.  Pierre  ; 
never  was  confusion  more  complete,  and  joy  more  ge- 
neral. The  action  of  government  was  entirely  suspended, 
but  its  absence  was  perceived  only  in  the  cessation  of 
that  oppression  which  it  had  exercised.  Money  again 
made  its  appearance  in  abundance;  provisions  arrived 
from  all  quarters;  and,  at  length,  the  news  of  the  peace 
crowned  the  general  intoxication. 

Vessels  had  meanwhile  been  dispatched  to  France. 
The  Prince  had  written  to  his  family,  and  had  entrusted 
the  captain  of  a  merchant-man,  sent  by  Liewain,  with  his 
letters.  No  answer  arrived,  and  the  Prince  seemed  very 
uneasy.  The  governor,  on  his  part,  had  dispatched  to 
the  minister,  the  engineer  Des  Rivieres,  to  inform  him  of 
what  had  happened,  and  to  request  instructions  how  to 
act.  It  was  now  six  months  since  the  departure  of  Des 
Rivieres,  and  he  had  not  returned  :  his  arrival  might, 
however,  be  hourly  expected  ;  but  this  gave  the  Prince 
no  concern.  In  the  mean  time  he  amused  himself  with 
defying  the  governor,  who  had  in  vain  endeavoured  to 
insinuate  himself  into  his  good  graces.  He  paid  his  court 
to  all  the  women  ;  gave  way  to  every  excess  in  eating  and 


drinking; 


102  SINGULARHISTORY     OF   AN    IMPOSTOR. 

drinking  ;  and  indulged  all  his  fancies.  Among  the  rest, 
he  one  day  took  it  into  his  head  to  assume  the  blue  ribbon, 
which,  had  he  been  the  heir  to  Modena,  would  have  been 
perfectly  ridiculous.  This  absurd  pretension  he  grounded 
in  a  story  still  more  absurd  ;  which,  however,  did  not  on 
that  account  obtain  the  less  credit.  If  he  had  declared 
that  he  was  the  son  of  God  and  the  Duchess  of  Modena, 
he  would  have  beem  believed. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  he  was  an  astonishing  youth. 
Amidst  the  most  childish  and  absurd  fancies,  his  actions 
always  displayed  a  certain  dignity.  Never,  either  in  the 
company  of  the  women,  whom  he  loved  to  distraction, 
or  in  fits  of  intoxication,  or  in  the  unfortunate  situations 
in  which  he  was  afterwards  placed,  did  he  for  a  moment 
relinquish  that  haughty  and  dignified  character  which  he 
at  first  assumed.  He  always  appeared  disinterested  and 
liberal,  but  without  profusion;  living  at  the  expence  of 
another,  as  if  at  his  own  cost,  without  seeking  to  amass 
for  the  future,  and  without  squandering,  like  a  man  who 
had  but  a  short  time  to  enjoy  prosperity.  His  education, 
which  had  only  been  commenced,  seemed  to  have  been 
conducted  with  extraordinary  care.  He  had  confused 
ideas  of  various  sciences;  spoke  French,  Italian,  and 
German,  but  not  very  well,  and  understood  something, 
though  still  less,  of  Latin.  He  likewise  wrote  very  ill, 
but  drew  tolerably,  and  was  a  capital  horseman.  His 
understanding  was  lively  and  just;  and  excepting  the 
ridiculous  fables  and  vague  assertions  with  which  he  was 
obliged  to  support  his  pretensions,  he  always  replied  to 
any  thing  serious  that  was  said  to  him,  with  great  dig- 
nity, good  sense,  and  precision.  But  the  most  inexpli- 
cable part  of  his  character  was  the  uniform  serenity  and 
tranquillity  which  he  manifested.  So  far  from  entertain- 
ing apprehensions  on  account  of  the  arrival  of  the  nu- 
merous strangers,  \vhom  the  peace  permitted  to  repair  to 

the 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  103 

the  island,  he  eagerly  sought  their  company.  A  new  ac- 
quaintance was  a  treat  to  him  ;  and  among  these  strangers, 
chance  directed  that  he  should  not  find  any  who  was  ahle 
to  detect  him.  One  of  them  had  seen  the  real  Prince  at 
Venice,  but  a  considerable  time  before.  He  had  met  with 
him  in  a  shop,  where  his  Highness  had  taken  off  his  mask 
after  breaking,  for  sport,  glasses  to  the  value  of  1500/. 
which  he  afterwards  paid  for.  He  who  was  capable  of 
such  a  folly,  might  easily  take  a  fancy  to  go  to  Martinico, 
and  a  person  who  had  played  such  tricks,  might  still  be 
the  Prince  of  Modena. 

Des  Rivieres  had  not  returned ;  and  the  rainy  season 
approached.  The  Prince  began  to  be  apprehensive  for 
his  health  ;  and  the  inhabitants  began  to  discover  that 
his  residence  was  rather  expensive  to  them.  He  wished 
to  leave  the  island,  and  they  were  equally  desirous  that 
he  should.  After  a  stay  of  seven  months  at  Martinico, 
he  embarked  for  France,  in  the  merchant-man,  the  Ra- 
phael, of  Bourdeaux,  taking  with  him  all  his  household, 
an  almoner,  and  Gamier,  the  king's  physician  at  the  co- 
lony. When  he  went  on  board,  he  hoisted  an  admiral's 
flag,  and,  after  being  saluted  by  the  cannon  of  the  fort, 
departed. 

A  fortnight  afterwards  arrived  Des  Rivieres,  with  or- 
ders to  put  his  Highness  in  confinement,  but  these  orders 
had  been  six  months  in  preparing,  and  the  inhabitants 
surmised  that  this  delay  was  intended  only  to  give  him 
time  to  leave  the  island,  his  visit  to  which  was  probably 
only  a  youthful  frolic.  Liewain's  messenger  had  likewise 
returned,  and  his  story  had  been  treated  at  Paris  with  as 
little  ceremony  as  that  of  Des  Rivieres.  He  brought 
Liewain  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Penthievre,  who  re- 
primanded him  for  suffering  himself  to  be  duped;  but 
who  considering  that  his  conduct  was  the  result  of  his 
zeal,  and  that  his  credulity  might  be  excused  by  the  ex- 
ample 


104  SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN   IMPOSTOR. 

ample  of  those  who  were  at  the  head  of  the  colony,  con- 
sented to  share  the  loss  with  him,  confirmed  him  in  his 
situation,  and  assured  him  of  his  protection,  The  money 
advanced  by  Liewain  amounted  to  50,000  crowns ;  and 
this  kindness  of  the  Duke  appeared  to  be  a  further  con- 
firmation of  the  truth  of  the  Prince's  pretensions. 

The  Raphael  meanwhile  proceeded  towards  Europe, 
and  arrived  at  Faro,  in  Portugal,  where  the  Prince  was 
received  with  a  salute  of  artillery.  He  demanded  a  cou- 
rier, whom  he  might  dispatch  to  Madrid,  to  the  charge 
d'affaires  of  the  Duke  of  Modena,  and  likewise  required 
to  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  repairing,  with  his  re- 
tinue, to  Seville,  where  lie  intended  to  wait  the  return  of 
his  messenger.  All  his  wishes  were  complied  with  ;  and 
he  set  out  for  Seville  as  tranquil  and  as  cheerful  as  ever, 
intent  only  on  paying  his  court  to  all  the  handsome  women 
he  met  with  on  the  way ;  and  he  arrived,  in  safety,  at 
Seville,  preceded  by  a  great  reputation  for  gallantry. 

All  the  females  were  at  the  windows  to  see  him  pass, 
and  all  the  first  people  of  the  town  went  to  pay  him  their 
respects.  Sumptuous  entertainments  were  prepared  for 
him,  which  he  returned  with  such  magnificence  and 
grace,  that  he  soon  turned  the  heads  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Seville,  particularly  the  females,  as  he  had  before  done 
those  of  the  inhabitants  of  Martinico.  During  the  day, 
he  was  almost  always  in  public  ;  but  at  night  he  was  not 
so  easily  to  be  found ;  and  though  he  observed  but  little 
secrecy  in  his  intrigues,  yet  his  attendants  sometimes  lost 
all  traces  of  him,  so  that  the  Marquis  d'Eragny,  who 
began  to  be  suspicious,  was  afraid  lest  he  might  give  them 
the  slip.  For  his  part,  he  manifested  no  concern,  except- 
ing on  account  of  the  delay  of  his  courier,  whose  return  he 
seemed  to  await  with  the  utmost  impatience. 

At  length  an  order  arrived  for  his  confinement,  till  the 
king  should  have  decided  concerning  his  fate;  which 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  105 

being  communicated  to  him  by  the  governor,  the  prince 
appeared  much  astonished  but  not  disconcerted,  and  re- 
plied, "  I  was  born  a  sovereign  as  well  as  he;  he  has  no 
controul  over  me;  but  he  is  master  here,  and  I  shall 
comply  with  his  desire." 

He  was  then  conducted  to  a  small  tower  occupied  by 
a  lieutenant  and  a  few  invalids.  Here  he  was  left  with- 
out being  fastened  up,  and  was  even  permitted  to  send 
for  those  persons  of  his  retinue  whom  he  wished  to  have 
with  him.  After  examining  his  new  habitation,  he  de- 
clared that  he  could  not  remain  there,  or  he  should  die. 
The  lieutenant  represented  to  him  that  he  was  on  his  pa- 
role. "  I  have  promised,"  said  he,  "  to  remain  in  a  habi- 
table place;"  to  which  the  lieutenant  replied,  "  he  had  no 
orders  to  use  force."  The  prince  then  privately  sent  to 
the  Dominicans  to  request  a  lodging  of  them,  and  per- 
mission to  wait  in  their  convent  for  the  orders  of  the  king. 
The  friars  consented  to  receive  him,  and  he  accordingly 
removed  without  molestation  to  the  convent.  In  Spain 
those  institutions  are  privileged  places,  and  those  who 
take  refuge  in  them  cannot  be  removed  by  force  It 
was  therefore  necessary  to  enter  into  a  negotiation  with 
the  provincial  of  the  order,  and  the  archbishop  of  Se- 
ville. The  Dominicans  at  length  consented  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  prisoner,  if  it  could  be  effected  without,  the 
effusion  of  blood. 

The  officer  charged  with  this  business  entered  his 
apartment  with  his  hat  in  one  hand,  and  his  drawn  sword 
in  the  other,  requiring  him  in  the  name  of  the  king  to 
surrender.  The  young  man  instantly  seized  his  arms, 
and  gaining  one  of  the  corners  of  the  room,  protested 
he  would  kill  the  first  who  should  venture  to  touch  him. 
He  was  surrounded  with  bayonets  which  he  parried 
with  his  sword,  and  defended  himself  with  such  resolu- 
tion, that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  take  him 

Eccentric,  No.  Ill,  r  without 


10G  SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR. 

without  violating  the  condition  which  had  been  speci- 
fied. The  soldiers  therefore  retired  ;  but  in  the  mean 
time  the  people  had  collected  at  the  gate,  and  the  re- 
port of  the  affair  had  spread  throughout  all  Seville.  The 
government  was  blamed  for  what  it  had  done,  and  what 
it  had  not  done ;  the  women  in  particular  fired  with  in- 
dignation at  the  outrages  committed  on  the  young  stran- 
ger, exclaimed  against  such  unworthy  treatment  of 
a  young  man  so  handsome,  noble,  generous,  and  brave. 
"  Pie  is  a  prince,"  said  they,  "  or  there  never  was  one  ; 
perhaps  there  never  was  his  equal,  and  yet  he  is  used  in 
this  cruel  manner !" 

This  fermentation  convinced  the  government  of  the 
necessity  of  bringing  the  affair  to  a  speedy  issue.  They 
recommenced  their  negociations  with  the  Dominicans, 
who  were  themselves  willing  to  deliver  up  their  guest ; 
but  it  had  now  become  a  difficult  matter.  He  never 
went  without  a  brace  of  pistols  in  his  pockets;  at  night 
he  kept  them  under  his  pillow,  and  at  dinner  placed  one 
on  each  side  of  his  plate ;  and  for  the  greater  security 
he  took  his  repasts  onfy  in  his  own  apartment  facing  the 
door.  A  method  was,  however,  contrived.  A  young 
lay-brother,  gay,  vigorous  and  active,  had  been  directed 
to  wait  upon  him.  His  services  were  very  agreeable  to 
the  prisoner,  who  was  likewise  much  diverted  with  his 
gaiety.  One  day  the  monk,  who  always  stood  behind 
him  when  at  table,  had  been  relating  a  very  merry  story, 
at  which  the  prince  could  not  forbear  laughing  very 
heartily.  The  monk  seizing  the  opportunity,  laid  hold 
of  both  his  arms  behind,  and  stamped  with  all  his  force. 
Some  alguasils  immediately  appeared,  and  carried  off 
the  poor  prince,  whom  they  threw  into  the  most  gloomy 
dungeon  of  the  most  infamous  prison  in  Seville,  where 
they  fastened  a  chain  round  his  middle,,  and  others 
round  his  legs  and  arms.  In  about  twenty -four  hours  he 

was 


SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  107 

was  sent  for,  to  be  examined,  but  he  refused  to  answer 
the  interrogations  of  his  judges.  His  irons  were  taken 
off,  and  instead  of  being  sent  back  to  his  dungeon,  he 
was  allowed  the  best  apartment  in  the  prison,  in  which 
a  guard,  commanded  by  a  captain  arid  lieutenant,  was 
placed  expressly  on  his  account.  The  persons  composing 
his  retinue  were  meanwhile  examined  relative  to  the  sup- 
posed design  of  withdrawing  Martinico  from  its  subjec- 
tion to  France,  and  without  farther  ceremony  the  prin- 
cipal person  was  condemned  to  the  gallies,  or  to  labour 
at  the  king's  fortifications  in  Africa,  and  his  attendants 
were  banished  the  dominions  of  Spain. 

The  time  at  length  arrived  when  he  was  to  set  off  for 
Cadiz,  where  those  condemned  to  labour  at  the  fortifica- 
tions at  Ceuta  in  Africa  were  assembled.  A  carriage 
drawn  by  six  mules  appeared  at  the  gates  of  the  prison, 
and  the  whole  garrison  of  Seville  was  under  arms.  The 
prince,  supported  by  the  captain  and  lieutenant,  entered 
the  carriage,  and  proceeded  through  Seville  between  two 
files  of  infantry  which  lined  the  streets. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  apprehensions  were  enter- 
tained of  a  commotion  in  his  favour.  It  is  certain  that 
the  imaginations  of  the  inhabitants  were  highly  inflamed, 
and  that  at  this  time  wagers  to  the  amount  of  00,000 
piastres  were  depending  in  Spain  on  the  question,  whether 
he  was  the  real  prince  of  Modena  or  an  impostor.  What 
appeared  the  most  extraordinary,  the  court  prohibited 
the  laying  of  wagers.  Some  of  the  parties  then  went  in 
quest  of  the  real  prince  of  Modena :  but  it  was  a  long- 
time before  he  was  discovered.  He  was  neither  at  Mo- 
dena nor  at  Reggio,  nor  at  Massa-Carrara.  It  was  said 
that  lie  was  gone  to  Venice ;  but  four  notaries  attested 
that  he  had  not  made  his  appearance  in  that  city,  so  that 
it  might  almost  have  been  surmised  that  he  concealed 

p  2  himself 


108  SINGULAR    HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR. 

himself  in  order  to  keep  alive  the  doubts  and  uncertainty 
of  the  public. 

When  the  prisoner  arrived  at  Cadiz,  he  was  conducted 
to  the  Fort  of  la  Caragna,  which  commands  the  port. 
The  commandant  was  informed,  that  he  must  be  answer- 
able for  the  prisoner;  but  his  order  at  the  same  time 
directed  that  he  should  treat  him  con  maniera,  with  po- 
liteness. The  commandant,  a  native  of  France,  named 
Devau,  who  had  raised  himself  by  his  merit  to  the  situa- 
tion he  held,  after  reading  his  orders,  observed  :  "  When 
I  am  to  be  answerable  for  the  safety  of  any  person,  I 
know  but  one  maniera  of  treating  him,  and  that  is  to  put 
him  in  irons." 

When  the  moment  arrived  for  the  departure  of  the 
convoy  for  Ceuta,  he  was  put  into  a  vessel  separate  from 
the  other  galley -slaves.  When  they  were  setting  sail,  a 
Secretary  of  the  governor  appeared.  He  brought  what 
remained  from  the  sale  of  his  effects  after  deducting  from 
the  produce  all  that  had  been  expended  on  his  account. 
The  surplus  amounted  to  seven  or  eight  hundred  reals, 
(about  ten  guineas.)  "Aha!"  said  he,  "the  governor 
takes  me  for  his  almoner." — then  raising  his  voice,  he 
continued:  "Sailors,  the  governor  is  very  generous,  he 
has  sent  you  some  money,"  and  distributed  the  whole 
among  them  in  the  presence  of  the  Secretary. 

Nadau,  who  had  been  ordered  home  to  France  to  give 
an  account  of  his  conduct,  received  on  his  return  to 
Martinico,  a  pair  of  pistols  of  the  finest  workmanship, 
accompanied  by  a  letter  from  the  prince,  in  which  after 
some  excuses  for  the  uneasiness  he  must  have  caused 
him,  he  informed  that  officer  that  he  was  at  Ceuta  in 
the  convent  of  the  Cordeliers,  where  he  was  very  well 
treated,  and  under  little  restraint.  He  pretended  that 
he  had  received  a  visit  from  Ali  Obaba,  the  brother  of 

the 


SINGULAR   HISTORY    OF    AN    IMPOSTOR.  109 

the  Emperor  of  Morocco,  who  had  offered  him  40,000 
men  and  artillery  to  attack  the  Spaniards  ;  hut  motives 
of  honour  and  of  religion  obliged  him  to  refuse  his  assist- 
ance. After  relating  the  particulars  of  his  interview  with 
Ali  Obaba,  he  informed  Nadau  that  he  had  received  a 
letter  from  a  mulatto  named  Louison,  one  of  the  two 
valets  de  chambre  who  had  accompanied  him  to  Europe  ; 
in  which  the  unfortunate  man  had  stated  that  he  was  out 
of  place,  and  afflicted  with  a  disease,  the  cure  of  which 
was  very  expensive.  In  consequence  of  this  intelligence 
he  had  caused  him  to  be  placed  under  the  hands  of  an 
able  surgeon  at  Cadiz,  whom  he  had  directed  to  be  paid, 
and  had  transmitted  to  Louison  sufficient  to  enable  him 
to  return  to  Martinico.  Thus  both  by  his  actions  and  his 
words,  he  supported  the  character  he  had  originally  mani- 
fested ;  which  is  certainly  not  the  least  extraordinary  part 
of  his  history. 

Liewain  likewise  received  a  letter,  in  which  he  la- 
mented the  losses  he  had  suffered  on  his  account,  and 
gave  him  hopes  that  he  should  one  day  make  him  a 
compensation  for  them.  These  letters  were  the  first  and 
the  last.  It  appears,  that  being  tired  of  his  prison, 
however  comfortable  it  might  have  been  made  for  him, 
the  young  man  found  an  opportunity  of  escaping. 
About  this  time  a  merchantman  came  to  an  anchor  in 
the  road  of  Gibraltar.  The  captain,  who  was  an  English- 
man, went  on  shore,  and  informed  the  governor  that  he 
had  on  board  his  ship  the  person  known  by  the  name  of 
the  prince  of  Modena,  who  demanded  permission  to  land. 
"  Let  him  beware  of  coming  on  shore  here,"  replied  the 
governor,  "  I  should  treat  him  con  maniera,in  the  English 
style ;  he  would  be  apprehended  immediately."  The 
captain  took  him  at  his  word  ;  he  set  sail,  and  with  him 
disappeared  for  ever  this  extraordinary  youth,  leaving 
behind  him  no  trace  of  his  existence  excepting  the  recol- 
lection 


110  INSTANCES    OF    THE    BURSTING    OF    EAUTH. 

lection  of  an  enigma,  which  in  all  probability  will  never 
be  explained. 


TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  ECCENTRIC  MUSEUM. 

SIR, 

From  your  very  polite  and  ready  insertion  of  my  last,  I  hare  now  sent  you 
a  few  well  authenticated  articles  concerning  that  extraordinary  Pheno- 
menon of  Nature,  the  Bursting  of  Earth,  and  should  you  consider  them 
in  any  degree  interesting  to  your  readers,  I  doubt  not  but  that  you  will 
take  a  convenient  opportunity  of  introducing  them  into  your  Eccentric 
Miscellany,  which  will  bo  deemed  a  favour  by 

Your  well-wisher, 

D.  B.L. 
Nottingham,  1804. 


Remarkable  Instances  of  the  BURSTING  of  EARTH. 

J_N  the  middle  of  April  1793,  a  very  extraordinary  con- 
vulsed motion  and  sinking  of  a  large  spot  of  ground  took 
place  at  Capley  Wood,  in  the  parish  of  Fownhope,  near 
Hereford.  It  was  first  remarked  by  a  man  and  a  boy  em- 
ployed in  hedging,  who  were  alarmed  by  a  noise  which 
seemed  to  proceed  from  the  wood,  and  immediately  after- 
wards perceived  some  large  stones  in  motion  at  a  small 
distance  from  them  ;  a  part  of  the  wood  and  wood-ground 
was  at  the  same  time  in  apparent  motion,  and  slipped  from 
its  bed  towards  the  low  ground  by  the  side  of  the  river  Wye. 
They  were  still  more  alarmed  by  the  sudden  motion  of 
the  ground  whereon  they  stood,  which  opened  in  differ- 
ent places,  and  threw  up  small  ridges  of  earth  at  short 
distances ;  and  they  had  only  time  to  make  their  escape 
before  the  hedge  at  which  they  were  at  work  was  nearly 
buried,  the  trees  in  and  near  it  were  thrust  down,  and 
the  road  at  the  bottom  of  the  wood  was  completely 

choked 


INSTANCES    OF    THE    BURSTING    OF    EARTH.  Ill 

choked  up  with  earth,  trees,  and   stones,  to  the  height  of 
] 2  feet. 

The  ground  within  the  circuit  of  this  motion,  is  ascer- 
tained to  exceed  four  acres  in  extent,  and  several  very 
large  apertures  have  been  left,  which  continued  to  widen 
daily  for  a  fortnight  after.  What  is  very  remarkable,  a 
yew-tree  was  removed  to  the  distance  of  forty  yards,  and 
now  remains  upright,  without  having  suffered  any  apparent 
injury. 

In  May  1795,  the  ground  in  a  meadow,  part  of  the 
farm,  or  estate  of  Stanley,  the  property  of  the  Right 
Hon.  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  suddenly  sunk  to  the  depth 
of  some  feet,  making  a  circular  break  on  the  surface. 
Immediately  after,  a  torrent  of  water  was  heard,  which 
appeared  to  rush  out  from  various  parts  of  the  broken 
soil;  and  falling  as  it  was  conjectured,  into  a  receptacle 
which  could  not  at  that  time  be  perceived,  occasioned  a  most 
tremendous  noise,  whilst  the  shrinking  was  evidently  in- 
creasing upon  the  surface. —  The  following  morning  this 
extraordinary  spot  was  visited  by  vast  numbers  of  people. 
The  aperture  then  exhibited  the  appearance  of  an  im- 
mense funnel ;  it  was  yet  enlarging,  consequently  no 
admeasurement  could  be  made :  but  the  computation 
generally  agreed  to,  was  from  GO  to  70  yards  in  diameter, 
and  30  yards  in  depth  to  the  vortex,  the  diameter  of 
which  appeared  to  be  about  6  or  7  yards. — Durino-  this 
time  large  heaps  of  earth  were  falling  from  the  sides, 
and  were  gushing  out  in  an  amazing  abundance ;  the 
water  also  was  sometimes  forced  up  a  considerable  height 
above  the  vortex  or  gulph,  as  if  from  a  jet  cfeau ;  the 
whole  presenting  to  the  eye  a  scene  of  the  mest  awful 
grandeur,  whilst  the  air  was  filled  with  sounds  the  most 
terrifying  and  alarming,  often  resembling  distant  thunder. 
The  deluge  poured  into  the  subterraneous  workings  of 
Scalegill  colliery,  but  providentially  the  people  employed 

in 


112  INSTANCES    OF    THE   BURSTING    OF    EARTH. 

in  it,  had  quitted  their  work  a  short  time  before  the 
sinking  happened.  The  aperture  kept  increasing  for 
several  hours,  still  preserving  its  circular  form,  till  a 
shoot  of  earth  from  one  part  of  its  margin  altered  the 
figure  in  a  small  degree.  It  remained  without  any  per- 
ceptible change  for  four  days  after,  when  the  Poo,  a  rivulet 
which  runs  at  a  small  distance,  was  let  into  it  by  a  trench, 
with  a  view  to  prevent  any  further  shrinking  of  the  sur- 
rounding earth.  This  seems  to  have  answered  the  in- 
tention, and  a  sluice  was  placed  to  stop  its  further  influx, 
when  the  body  of  water  had  risen  to  an  elevation  within 
eight  or  nine  yards  of  the  brink. — The  ground  thus  almost 
instantaneously  lost,  is  one  acre,  one  rood,  and  twenty- 
four  perches.  It  has  already  been  intimated,  as  a  provi- 
dential blessing,  that  no  accident  befel  any  of  the  people 
employed  in  the  colliery  :  it  is  not  less  worthy  of  similar 
remark,  that  none  of  Mr.  Smith's  family,  the  farmer,  nor 
his  cattle,  were  upon  the  surface  when  an  event  happened 
awful  in  the  extreme,  as  it  must  be  confessed,  and  such  as 
might  have  involved  calamities  of  the  most  appalling 
kind  ! — The  appearance  of  the  strata,  which  were  suffi- 
ciently exposed  before  much  water  flowed  into  the  cavity, 
strongly  favours  the  long  prevalent  idea,  that  the  sea  had 
formerly  intersected  the  land  between  the  present  harbour 
of  Whitehaven  at  St.  Bee's  Head. 

On  the  16th  of  September  1796,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Rippon,  Yorkshire,  part  of  two  fields  near  the 
village  of  Littlethorpe  was  swallowed  up,  leaving  a  gulf 
or  chasm  of  about  90  yards  in  circumference,  and  twelve 
yards  deep,  nine  of  which  were  under  water.  The  water 
was  for  some  time  considerably  agitated,  but  was  at  rest 
as  soon  as  the  earth  ceased  to  fall  in,  the  above  was  pre- 
ceded by  an  unusual  rumbling  noise  resembling  that  of 
distant  thunder:  the  chasm  ceased  to  encreuse  on  the 

18th, 


ACCOUNT    OF    GEORGE    ROMONDO.  113 

1  8th,  and  the  inhabitants  were  consequently  relieved  from 
the  alarm  and  anxiety  which  so  unusual  a  phenomenon 
must  have  occasioned. 

In  January  1797,  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  a  cot- 
tage at  Newton  Ferrers,  about  eleven  miles  from  Plymouth, 
in  which  slept  an  industrious  widow  (cottager)  and  her 
two  children,  was  overwhelmed  by  the  bursting  of  a  very 
large  field  and  orchard,  on  a  hill  above  the  cottage,  in 
Memblard  Lane.  It  totally  destroyed  the  cottage,  and 
suffocated  the  widow  and  her  two  children,  who  were 
found  dead  under  a  very  great  heap  of  earth,  elm,  and 
apple  trees.  A  large  chasm  was  found  in  the  field  above 
the  cottage,  out  of  which  issued  a  rivulet  of  water.  It 
was  imagined  it  was  owing  to  the  bursting  of  a  spring, 
that  this  calamitous  and  singular  accident  happened. 
The  bodies  were  dug  out  on  the  following  day  ;  and  Mr. 
Whiteford,  coroner  for  the  southern  district  of  Devon, 
took  an  inquisition,  and  the  Jury  returned  a  verdict  — 
Accidental  Death.  D.  B.  L. 


Some  Account  of  that  Eccentric   Character  GEORGE  RO- 

MONDO  alias  RAYMONDO. 

(With  a  Portrait.) 


I 


T  has  been  justly  asserted  concerning  the  English  na- 
tion, that  no  other  country  contains  so  many  humourists 
or  eccentric  characters  ;  and  this  declaration  is  an  indirect 
eulogium  on  the  political  constitution,  and  the  laws  under 
which  we  have  the  happiness  of  living,  by  which  each  in- 
dividual is  left  at  liberty  to  follow  every  humour,  whim 
and  fancy,  provided  it  be  not  prejudicial  to  his  fellow 
creatures. 

In  traversing  the  streets  of  the  vast  metropolis  of  the 
British  empire,  the  pedestrian  meets  in  almost  every  part 
with  numerous  characters  of  this  kind,  who  though  their 

Eccentric,  No.  III.  Q  figure 


114  ACCOUNT    OF    GEORGE    ROMONDO. 

figure  may  be  familiar  to  the  eye  of  every  one,  are  yet 
unknown  to  all.  Arrested  by  the  eccentric,  the  odd,  or 
the  whimsical  appearance  of  such  characters,  the  inquisitive 
mind,  by  a  curiosity  natural  to  mankind,  wishes  to  learn 
•who  and  what  the  persons  are  that  have  so  frequently  en- 
gaged its  attention.  It  indulges  in  conjectures  concern- 
ing their  circumstances,  profession,  or  mode  of  life  ;  one 
is  an  opulent  humourist,  another  a  sordid  old  miser,  and 
the  character  of  a  third  it  is  totally  at  a  loss  to  divine. 

As  there  is  no  individual,  however  mean  and  apparently 
insignificant,  from  whose  character,  and  the  circumstances 
of  whose  life  some  useful  lesson  may  not  be  learned,  we 
shall  make  it  our  business  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  the 
public,  by  presenting  them  occasionally  with  particulars 
concerning  some  of  those  well-known,  and  at  the  same 
time  unknown  persons. 

One  of  these  is  George  Romondo  or  Raymondo,  the 
singularity  of  whose  figure  and  dress  must  have  attracted 
the  notice  of  many.  He  is  about  three  feet  six  inches  in 
height.  He  has  a  large  hat  cocked  before,  and  hanging 
down  behind,  like  those  commonly  worn  by  coal-heavers  ; 
he  is  seldom  seen  excepting  holding  the  skirts  of  his  long 
coat  behind  him,  lest  they  should  be  entangled  with  his 
feet.  Each  of  his  legs  and  thighs  forms  a  large  segment 
of  a  circle.  When  we  add  his  physiognomy,  for  an  idea 
of  which  we  refer  to  the  plate,  the  whole  forms  such  an 
extraordinary  figure  as  no  person  can  pass  without  a  second 
look. 

Raymondo  is  a  native  of  Lisbon,  where,  as  we  have 
been  informed,  he  was  born  about  the  year  1765,  of 
Jewish  parents.  He  possesses  a  very  acute  ear,  and  such 
a  voice,  that  there  is  scarcely  any  kind  of  sound,  which 
he  is  not  capable  of  imitating.  He  not  only  gives  the 
tones  of  the  trumpet,  the  horn,  the  violin,  the  drum,  the 
bagpipe,  and  other  instruments,  but  he  modulates  his 

powers 


ACCOUNT    OF    GEORGE    ROMONDO.  115 

powers  to  the  braying  of  asses,  the  grunting  of  hogs,  the 
barking  of  dogs,  and  the  sounds  emitted  by  almost  every  kind 
of  animal.  He  also  perfectly  imitates  the  harsh  noise  pro- 
duced by  the  sawing  of  wood,  and  other  operations.  These 
sounds  he  makes  with  the  assistance  of  his  hand  placed 
against  a  wall  or  wainscot,  whence  he  wishes  to  per- 
suade those  who  are  ignorant  of  his  talents,  that  the  noise 
proceeded. 

The  possession  of  this  extraordinary  faculty,  recom- 
mended him  to  the  notice  of  a  crafty  Italian,  who  per- 
suaded Raymondo  to  accompauy  him  to  England,  where 
the  patronage  of  a  generous  public  was  ever  ready  to  re- 
ward talent  of  every  description,  and  where  he  flattered 
him  with  the  hope  of  speedily  acquiring  a  fortune.  He 
exhibited  his  powers  in  the  metropolis  and  in  other 
place?.  The  Italian  was  at  first  a  considerable  gainer  by 
his  performances,  poor  Raymondo  receiving  only  a  small 
daily  stipend  for  his  exertions;  but  the  music  not  per- 
fectly according  with  the  ears  of  those  who  have  the 
most  money  to  spend,  the  speculation  failed,  and  the 
projector  turned  our  hero  adrift  to  provide  for  himself. 

Being  far  from  his  native  country  and  friends,  arid 
having  no  hope  of  a  new  engagement,  he  was  at  first 
under  some  embarrassment  how  to  proceed.  His  inge- 
nuity however,  soon  furnished  him  with  an  expedient 
for  supplying  his  necessities.  He  entered  a  public-house 
unnoticed,  and  with  the  tremendous  roaring  of  a  lion, 
threw  the  company  into  the  utmost  alarm.  From  this 
however  they  soon  recovered,  on  discovering  the  gro- 
tesque figure  of  our  hero,  with  whom  they  were  soon  so 
highly  delighted,  that  a  subscription  was  set  on  foot  for 
his  benefit,  and  the  recollection  of  the  treacherous  Italian 
was  soon  effaced  from  his  mind. 

The  success  of  this  experiment  determined  him  to 

proceed 


116  ACCOUNT    OF     SINGULAR    TENURES. 

proceed  in  the  same  career,  and  he  has  since  made  a 
practice  of  visiting  the  public  houses  in  obscure  streets  in 
the  evening  where  he  contrives  by  the  exhibition  of  his 

O  "  «* 

talents  to  obtain  a  tolerable  subsistence.  At  Bartholo- 
mew Fair  1804,  he  condescended  to  take  his  station  before 
one  of  the  booths,  where,  with  his  usual  good-humour, 
he  invited  the  gay  visitors  to  enter  and  see  the  extraor- 
dinary exhibition  within. 

Raymondo  in  his  character  and  disposition  is  perfectly 
harmless  and  inoffensive.  His  placid  disposition  is  dis- 
played in  his  countenance,  for  he  is  seldom  to  be  seen 
without  a  smile  upon  his  face,  particularly  when  he  meets 
females;  and  he  declares  that  "he  is  sure  the  ladies 
must  see  somethingin  him  that  pleases  them,  otherwise 
he  should  not  be  blessed  with  their  looks." 

His  principal  ramble  during  the  day  is  from  the  Hay- 
market  to  Duke's  Place. 


Account  of  SINGULAR  TENURES  by    which   many   Estates 
in  this  Kingdom  are  held. 

./ALMOST  all  the  landed  property  of  this  kingdom  is,  by 
the  policy  of  our  laws,  supposed  to  be  granted  by,  de- 
pendant upon,  and  holden  of,  some  superior  lord,  by  and 
in  consideration  of  certain  services  to  be  rendered  to  the 
lord  by  the  tenant  or  possessor  of  this  property.  The 
thing  holden  is  therefore  styled  a  tenement,  the  possessors 
thereof  tenants,  and  the  manner  of  their  possession  a 
tenure.  Before  the  establishment  of  the  feudal  system, 
the  possessions  of  the  people  were  perfectly  allodial  (that 
is,  wholly  independent,  and  held  of  no  superior  at  all) 
but  by  that  constitution,  large  parcels  of  land  were  al- 
lotted by  the  conquering  generals  to  the  superior  officers, 
and  by  them  dealt  out  again  in  smaller  parcels  to  the  in- 
ferior officers  and  most  deserving  soldiers,  who  were  all 

bound 


ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES.  117 

bound  to    each  other  for  reciprocal  protection    and   de- 
fence. 

In  consequence  of  this  system,  it  became  a  funda- 
mental maxim  and  necessary  principle  (though  in  reality 
a  mere  fiction)  of  our  English  tenures,  "  That  the  king 
is  the  universal  lord,  and  original  proprietor  of  all  the 
land  in  the  kingdom  ;  and  that  no  man  doth,  or  can  pos- 
sess any  part  of  it,  but  what  has  mediately  or  immediately 
been  derived  as  a  gift  from  him,  to  be  held  upon  feudal 
services."  Those  that  held  immediately  under  the  crown, 
were  called  the  king's  tenants  in  capitc,  or  in  chief, 
which  was  the  most  honourable  species  of  tenure  :  those 
who  in  a  lower  degree  of  feudatory  subordination  held 
of  their  lords,  were  subject  to  services  of  a  more  slavish 
nature.  These  services  gradually  grew  into  a  slavery  so 
complicated  and  extensive  as  to  call  aloud  for  redress, 
and  at  length  by  an  act  made  in  12  Charles  II.  c.  24. 
A. D.  1660,  the  whole  were  levelled  at  one  blow ;  every 
oppressive  tenure  being  abolished,  except  only  tenures  in 
frankalmoign  (which  is,  where  a  religious  corporation 
holds  lands  from  the  giver  in  free  alms,)  copyholds, 
and  the  honorary  services  of  Grand  Serjeanty.  The  te- 
nure by  Grand  Serjeanty,  thus  reserved,  and  still  existing, 
is  that  whereby  the  tenant  is  bound,  instead  of  serving  the 
king  generally  in  his  wars,  to  do  some  special  honorary 
service  to  the  king  in  person  ;  as  to  carry  his  banner,  his 
sword,  or  the  like;  or  to  be  his  butler,  champion,  or 
other  officer  at  his  coronation.  Petit  Serjeanty,  which 
also  still  exists,  bears  a  great  resemblance  to  grand  ser- 
jeanty ;  for  as  the  one  is  a  personal  service,  so  the  other 
is  a  rent  or  render,  both  tending  to  some  purpose  relative 
to  the  king's  person.  Petit  Serjeanty  consists  in  holding 
lands  of  the  king,  by  the  service  of  rendering  to  him 
annually  some  small  implement  of  war,  as  a  bow  or 
sword,  a  lance,  an  arrow,  or  the  like.  And  lands  may 

be 


118  ACCOUNT  OF  SINGULAR  TENURES. 

be  held,  not  only  of  the  king,  but  of  subjects  who  possess 
the  franchise,  to  whom  the  tenants  render  services  of  the 
nature  of  Grand  and  Petit  Serjeanty. 

Having  premised  thus  much,  we  will  select  such  in- 
stances of  tenures  as  are  most  curious  and  remarkable. 

AYLESBURY. — County  of  Sucks. 

William,  son  of  William  de  Alesbury,  holds  three 
yard  lands  of  our  lord  the  king  in  Alesbury,  in  the  county 
of  Bucks,  by  the  serjeanty  of  finding  straw  for  the  bed 
of  our  lord  the  king,  and  to  straw  his  chamber,  and  by 
paying  three  eels  to  our  lord  the  king,  when  he  should 
come  to  Alesbury  in  winter.  And  also  finding  for  the 
king,  when  he  should  come  to  Alesbury  in  summer, 
straw  for  his  bed,  and  moreover  grass  or  rushes  to  strew 
his  chamber,  and  also  paying  two  green  geese ;  and  these 
services  aforesaid  he  was  to  perform  thrice  a  year,  if  the 
king  should  happen  to  come  three  times  to  Alesbury,  and 
not  oftener. 

BARDOLFE. —  County  of  Surry. 

At  the  coronation  of  king  James  II.  the  lord  of  the 
manor  of  Bardolfe,  in  Addington,  Surry,  claimed  to  find 
a  man  to  make  a  mess  of  grout  in  the  king's  kitchen  ; 
and  therefore  prayed  that  the  king's  master-cook  might 
perform  that  service.  Which  claim  was  allowed,  and 
the  said  lord  of  the  manor  brought  it  up  to  the  king's 
table. 

BRINESTON. — County  of  Chester,  or  Dorset. 

The  manor  of  Brineston,  in  the  county  of  Chester,  is 
held  of  the  king  in  capite,  by  the  service  of  finding  a 
man  in  the  army  of  our  lord  the  king  going  into  the 
parts  of  Scotland  barefoot,  clothed  with  a  shirt  and 
breeches,  having  in  one  hand  a  bow  without  a  string,  and 
in  the  other  an  arrow  unfcathcred. 

BROKEN- 


ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES.  119 

BROKENHERST. — County  of  Hants. 
Peter  Spileman  paid  a  fine  to  the  king  for  the  lands 
which  the  said  Peter  held  by  the  serjaunty  of  finding  an 
Esquire  with  a  humbergell,  or  coat  of  mail,  for  forty  days 
in  England,  and  of  finding  Utter  for  the  king's  bed,  and 
hay  for  the  king's  palfrey,  when  the  king  should  lie  at 
Brokenherst,  in  the  county  of  Southampton. 

BOCKHAMPTON. —  County  of  Berks. 

William  Hoppeshort  holds  half  a  yard-land  in  that 
town  of  our  lord  the  king,  by  the  service  of  keeping  for 
the  king  six  damsels,  to  wit,  whores,  at  the  cost  of  the 
king. — This  was  called  pimp-tenure. 

BOYTON. — County  of  Essex. 

William  de  Reynes  formerly  held  two  carucates*  of 
land  in  Boy  ton,  in  the  parish  of  Finchingfend  (Finch- 
ingfield)  in  the  county  of  Essex,  by  the  serjeanty  of 
keeping  for  the  king  five  wolf-dogs.  And  the  Dean  and 
Chapter  of  London  now  hold  that  land. 

BISHOP'S  AUKLAND. —  County  of  Durham. 
tn  the  12th  year  of  the  pontificate  of  Bishop  Shir- 
lawe,  1399,  Dionisia,  widow  of  John  Pollard  the  elder, 
died  seised  of  one  piece  of  land,  called  Hekes,  near  the 
park  of  Aukland,  which  was  held  of  the  lord  bishop  in 
capite,  by  the  service  of  shewing  to  the  bishop  one  faw- 
chon.  at  his  first  coming  to  Aukland  after  his  consecra- 

'  Cj 

tion. 

BROOKHOUSE. —  County  of  York. 

A  farm  at  Brook-House  in  Langsett,  in  the  parish  of 
Peniston,  and  county  of  York,  pays  yearly  to  Godfrey 

*  Caracute,  or  a  plough  land,  was  formerly  such  a  quantity  of  land 
as  might  be  tilled  in  a  year  and  a  day  by  one  plough  ;  hut  by  stat.  7,  8. 
William  III.  c.  29.  sec.  5,  it  is  land,  houses,  &c.  to  the  value  of  501.  per 
annum. 

Bosville, 


120  WONDERFUL    PRESERVATION. 

Bosville,  Esquire,  a  snow-ball  at  Midsummer,   and  a  red 
rose  at  Christmas. 

This  is  certainly  a  most  extraordinary  tenure,  and  yet 
the  editor  has  no  doubt  but  it  is  very  possible  to  perform 
the  service  :  he  has  himself  seen  snow  in  caverns  or  hol- 
lows, upon  the  high  moors,  in  that  neighbourhood,  in 
the  month  of  June  ;  and  as  to  the  red  rose  at  Christmas 
(as  he  does  not  suppose  that  it  was  meant  to  have  been 
growing  just  before  it  was  presented)  he  thinks  it  is  not 
difficult  to  preserve  one  till  that  time  of  the  year. — As 
the  things  tendered  in  tenures  were  usually  such  as  could 
easily  be  procured,  and  not  impossible  ones,  we  must 
suppose  that  the  two  here  mentioned  were  redeemable  by 
a  pecuniary  payment,  to  be  fixed  at  the  will  of  the  lord. 


WONDERFUL    PRESERVATION. 

V_/N  the  29th  of  June,  1803,  at  nine  in  the  morning, 
the  Europe,  East  Indiaman,  being  on  her  voyage  to 
Madras,  a  small  sail  was  discovered.  The  Europe  hove 
to,  and  sent  on  board  a  boat  with  the  second  officer.  He 
found  in  the  vessel  only  one  man,  which  man  he  brought 
back  with  him  to  the  ship,  and  his  bark  being  a  perfect 
wreck,  was  turned  adrift.  The  following  is  the  account 
given  by  the  unfortunate  stranger  of  the  circumstances, 
which  had  reduced  him  to  the  deplorable  situation  in 
which  he  was  discovered. 

He  sailed  from  London,  as  second  mate  of  the  brig 
Thomas,  of  London,  commanded  by  Captain  Gardiner, 
and  belonging  to  Messrs.  Broderick  and  Co.  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1802,  bound  to  the  South  Seas,  on  the  whale- 
fishery.  After  touching  at  several  places  on  their  out- 
ward-bound voyage,  they  arrived  at  Staten  Land,  where 


WONDERFUL    PRESERVATION.  121 

they  remained  six  or  seven  months,  and  collected  about 
seven  or  eight  hundred  skins.  In  the  course  of  that  time 
they  lengthened  and  decked  their  long-boat,  and  con- 
verted her  into  a  shallop,  of  which  the  captain  gave  him 
the  command,  and  put  three  seamen  on  board,  under 
him.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  ordered  to  accompany 
the  brig  to  the  island  of  Georgia,  whither  they  were 
bound,  to  procure  seals  and  sea-elephants.  They  accord- 
ingly left  Staten  Island  the  latter  end  of  January,  1803, 
in  company  with  the  brig;  and  after  eleven  days  passage, 
arrived  at  the  island  of  Georgia,  where  they  remained 
two  months,  and  left  it  the  beginning  of  April,  the  Tho- 
mas, and  another  brig,  the  John,  of  Boston,  in  company, 
and  stood  off  the  island  of  Tristan  d'Acunha. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  the  shallop  was  parted  from  her 
consorts  in  a  heavy  gale  of  wind,  in  which  he  lost  his 
three  companions,  who  were  washed  over  by  a  tremen- 
dous sea,  from  which  he  narrowly  escaped,  having,  only 
the  moment  before,  gone  below  for  a  knife  to  cut  away- 
some  part  of  the  rigging.  At  that  time  he  had  on  board 
only  three  pounds  and  a  half  of  meat,  three  pounds  of 
flour,  six  pounds  of  bread,  and  two  hogsheads  of  water, 
(all  of  which  were  much  damaged  by  the  gale),  some 
whale-oil  remaining  in  the  bottoms  of  a  few  casks,  a 
small  quantity  of  salt,  and  some  bark  of  trees.  On  this 
scanty  pittance,  and  without  any  means  of  even  dressing 
that,  he  had  contrived  to  support  existence  for  the  sur- 
prising space  of  seventy-five  days,  for  the  last  thirty  of 
which,  his  principal  means  of  subsistence  were  tobacco, 
and  the  bark  of  trees  soaked  in  whale-oil.  When  the 
Europe  fell  in  with  him  he  was  shaping  a  course  for  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  having  missed  Tristan  d'Acunha, 
to  which  island  he  first  intended  to  proceed,  to  rejoin 
his  consort.  His  debility  was,  however,  so  great,  that 
the  want  of  sustenance  for  two  or  three  days  longer  would 

Eccentric,  No.  HI,  R  have 


122  REMARKABLE    INSTANCES    OF    ANTIPATHY. 

have  ended  his  earthly  career.  A  subscription  was  imme- 
diately made,  on  board  the  Europe,  for  the  poor  invalid, 
which  amounted  to  £110. 


Remarkable  Instances  of  Antipathy  in  the  Human 
Species. 

XJ.MONG  the  most  singular  and  unaccountable  affections 
to  which  the  human  species  is  subject,  may   be  reckoned 
those  violent    antipathies   to  certain  objects,   or   circum- 
stance?, of  which  so  many  instances  are  recorded.     If  an- 
tipathies were    observed  only   in   men  of    pusillanimous 
minds,  in  the  ignorant,   and   persons  incapable  of  reflec- 
tion, or  in   women  or  children  of  weak  constitutions,  it 
might  perhaps  be  possible  to   assign  a  cause   for   them. 
The  bravest  and   most  intrepid  men  are,  however,   some- 
times found  to  be   subject  to  this  species  of  weakness. 
The  Duke    of  Epernon,  whose   courage   will   never   be 
called   in    question,   and    who   exhibited  a  distinguished 
share  of   that  quality   on    the    most    perilous    occasions, 
fainted,    nevertheless,  at   the  sight  of  a  leveret.      In  the 
same  manner,  the  Maresclial  of  France,  Cesar  d'Albret, 
was  taken  ill  whenever  he  saw  a  sucking  pig  at  table.     It 
was,  however,   easy  to  relieve  him   from   this  weakness, 
by   cutting  off  the   animal's   head,  which   was  the  only 
part  that  produced   this   strange  effect.      Deslandes,  in  a 
letter  printed   in  the   Mercure  de  France,  for   the    year 
1727,  relates  several  facts  of  the  same  kind.     Among  the 
rest,   he  mentions  one  instance  which    he  himself    wit- 
nessed.    An  officer  in  the  artillery,  be  says,  turned  pale 
and  fell  ill  whenever  a  cork  was  cut  in  his  presence.     He 
had  in  vain  tried  every  possible  method  to  overcome  this 
antipathy,  but  with  no  other  effect  than  running  the  risk 
of  perishing  in  the  struggle. 

A  "Teat 


REMARKABLE    INSTANCES    OF    ANTIPATHY.  123 

A  great  number  of  facts  might  be  mentioned,  to  prove 
that  not  only  the  bravest,  but  the  most  enlightened  men, 
those  most  capable  of  resisting  such  weaknesses,  are  not 
exempt  from  them.  The  celebrated  Peter  of  Apono,  a 
distinguished  professor  of  medicine,  at  Bologna,  could 
not  bear  the  sight  or  smell  of  cheese,  without  fainting. 
The  same  was  the  case  with  Martin  Schock,  professor  of 
philosophy,  at  Groningen,  who  composed  a  very  curious 
treatise  on  the  subject,  entitled,  "  De  Aversione  Casei." 
We  are  informed  that  Hobbes  would  faint  if  he  were  left 
without  light  during  the  night;  that  Tycho  Brahe  was 
taken  ill  at  the  sight  of  a  hare  or  a  fox  ;  and  that  Bayle 
was  seized  with  convulsions  when  he  heard  the  noise  of 
water  running  from  a  cock. 

It  is  still  more  astonishing,  that  the  celebrated  Lamotte 
le  Vayer  could  not  endure  the  sound  of  any  musical  in- 
strument, however  harmonious  ;  and  yet  took  the  great- 
est pleasure  in  the  noise  of  the  harshest  thunder. 

The  two  following  extraordinary  facts  are  extracted 
from  the  Ephemerides  of  the  Curious  : — John  Pechman, 
a  learned  theologian,  had,  from  his  earliest  infancy,  a 
singular  antipathy  to  sweeping.  This  antipathy  was  so 
strong,  that  whenever  he  heard  any  person  sweeping  the 
street,  he  grew  uneasy,  he  felt  a  difficulty  of  respiration, 
and  drew  his  breath  like  a  person  nearly  suffocated. 
Every  method  was  tried,  in  vain,  to  make  him  endure  the 
noise;  and  he  more  than  once  offered  to  jump  out  of  the 
window  at  the  mere  sight  of  a  broom,  with  which  one  of 
the  servants  pursued  him.  If  when  his  mind  was  en- 
gaged in  the  most  serious  occupations,  he  heard  the 
scratching  of  a  broom  or  a  stick  on  the  pavement,  he 
immediately  turned  pale,  grew  uneasy,  and  was  frequently 
covered  with  sweat.  If  he  accidentally  met  in  the  public 
places  with  people  who  were  sweeping,  he  ran  away  from 
them  like  a  madman. 

R  2  The 


124  REMARKABLE    INSTANCES    OF    ANTIPATHY. 

The  second  instance  is  of  a  woman,  a  native  of  Hol- 
land, who  could  never  touch  or  hold  in  her  hands  a 
piece  of  iron,  for  instance,  a  nail,  a  needle,  &c.  without 
being  immediately  thrown  into  a  profuse  and  general 
perspiration,  which  she  could  not  otherwise  procure, 
even  by  the  most  violent  exercise.  It  is  asserted,  that 
she  was  naturally  of  a  cold  temperament,  like  most  of  the 
women  of  that  country.  She  was  of  Japanese  extrac- 
tion. 

Olaus  Borrichius  relates,  that  he  knew  the  keeper  of  a 
tavern  who  trembled,  and  was  suddenly  seized  with  a  cold 
sweat,  whenever  he  saw  vinegar  at  the  table.  At  the 
same  time,  provided  he  did  not  see  it,  he  could  drink  it, 
or  take  it  in  any  preparation  whatever,  without  feeling  any 
inconvenience. 

The  following  circumstance,  however,  appears  even 
more  extraordinary  than  any  of  the  preceding. — A  lady, 
a  most  amiable  woman,  and  who  manifested  the  greatest 
affection  for  her  husband,  a  circumstance  which  adds 
considerably  to  the  singularity  of  the  phenomenon  in 
question,  was  unable,  without  being  ill,  not  only  to  eat 
veal,  but  even  to  look  at  it  on  the  table,  prepared  in  any 
way  whatever.  This  antipathy  went  so  far,  that  she  had 
not  strength  to  leave  the  table  when  the  obnoxious  dish 
appeared,  and  was  obliged  to  be  carried  to  bed.  The 
smell  only  of  that  kind  of  meat,  produced  the  same  ter- 
rible effect. 

One  day,  without  her  knowledge,  a  small  quantity  of 
veal  broth  was  put  into  some  beef  soup  that  was  given 
her.  She  had  scarcely  tasted  a  few  drops,  when  her 
hands  fell  motionless,  her  face  turned  pale,  her  eyes  be- 
came wild,  and  she  was  seized  with  dreadful  convulsions, 
and  was  extremely  ill  for  three  or  four  days. 

Her  husband  imagined,  that  by  eating  veal  he  should 
gradually  accustom  his  wife  to  its  use.  The  result  was 

however. 


SINGULAR    PRESERVATION    OF    EGGS.  125 

however,  exactly  the  contrary.  He  himself  became  the 
object  of  her  invincible  disgust ;  and  his  presence  pro- 
duced the  same  symptoms,  and  the  same  convulsions,  as 
were  occasioned  by  veal ;  so  that  she  now  detested,  and 
could  not  endure  in  her  sight,  the  man  to  whom  she  had 
before  been  so  tenderly  attached. 


Account  of  the  Singular   Preservation  of  Eggs  during  a 
Period  of  Three  Hundred  Years. 

AN  a  village,  situated  near  Lake  Maggiore,  in  Italy,  it 
was  found  necessary  some  years  since,  to  take  down  the 
old  wall  of  the  vestry  of  the  church  of  that  place,  which 
was  very  ancient.  In  the  middle  of  this  wall  were  found 
three  eggs,  two  of  which  were  near  each  other,  and  the 
third,  at  a  little  distance.  They  were  not  placed  in  any 
hole,  to  which  a  hen,  or  other  animal,  could  possibly  pene- 
trate ;  but  in  the  midst  of  the  wall,  which  in  this  place 
was  two  feet  thick.  It  was  remarked,  that  they  were  laid 
upon  a  bed  of  stones,  and  surrounded  and  encased  with 
the  hardened  mortar.  They  had  probably  been  laid  there 
by  some  of  the  workmen  employed  in  building  the  wall, 
and  enclosed  without  being  perceived  ;  or  it  might  have 
been  a  trick  which  a  workman  chose  to  play  on  one  of  his 
companions,  who  had  put  them  in  this  place. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  at  the  time  of  their  discovery,  curiosity 
prompted  those  who  were  present  to  break  one  of  the  eggs 
immediately.  This  was  done  by  a  servant,  who  stood  at 
some  distance,  to  avoid  the  danger  that  might  have  re- 
sulted from  the  infection  of  the  egg.  They  were  much 
surprised  to  find  it  liquid,  with  both  the  yolk  and  white 
well  formed,  and  the  smell  and  taste  natural  to  an  egg  ; 
in  a  word,  it  was  fresh,  and  fit  for  eating,  and  continued 
so,  after  being  exposed  to  the  air  four  days.  The  two 
others  were  opened  eight  days  afterward?,  at  Milan,  ten 

leagues 


126  EXTRAORDINARY    WILL. 

leagues  distant  from  Lake  Maggiore.  They  appeared  not 
so  fresh  as  the  former,  and  rather  salty,  like  an  egg  a 
week  old.  The  shells  had  likewise  lost  something  of 
their  whiteness. 

Proofs  were  adduced  that,  for  a  period  of  300  years, 
nothing  had  been  done  to  the  vestry,  of  which  the  wall, 
containing  the  eggs,  made  a  part,  excepting  at  the  top, 
for  the  purpose  of  repairing  the  roof.  It  was  visited  by 
St.  Charles  Borromeo,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  who  held 
meetings  there.  In  the  same  place  there  was  a  press  for 
holding  the  decorations  and  plate  belonging  to  the  altar  ; 
which  piece  of  furniture  was  made  on  the  spot,  in  the 
year  1569,  and  which  could  not  have  passed  through  the 
present  small  door,  and  no  traces  whatever  of  a  larger 
are  to  be  seen.  It  therefore  appears  that  these  eggs  were 
preserved  for  about  three  centuries  in  this  extraordinary 
situation. 


EXTRAORDINARY  WILL. 

V_/N  the  10th  of  February,  1798,  a  singular  cause  was 
tried  in  the  Court  of  Delegates,  Doctors'  Commons.  It 
was  instituted  by  the  relations  of  Mrs.  Hannah  White, 
against  a  paper,  purporting  to  be  her  last  will  and  testa- 
ment; by  which  it  appeared,  that  the  testatrix  left  to  the 
mother  of  one  of  her  servants  2ol.  per  annum,  in  trust 
for  the  maintenance  of  five  favourite  cats,  during:  the 

7  O 

course  of  their  natural  lives.  She  likewise  bequeathed 
to  St.  George's  and  Middlesex  hospitals  1000/.  each,  a  few 
legacies  to  her  domestics,  and  the  residue  of  her  estate, 
which  was  very  considerable,  to  the  apothecary  attending 
her  person.  This  extraordinary  will  was  witnessed  by  an 
attorney,  and  the  clerk  of  the  parish. 

The  Court,  after  hearing  the  arguments  of  Sir  William 

Scott, 


PARTICULARS    OF    STONE-EATERS.  127 

Scott,  in  support  of  the  cats  and  the  apothecary,  and 
other  advocates  in  favour  of  persons  who  were  nearer 
of  kin,  pronounced  the  following  decree,  viz  : 

"  That  the  bequest  to  Mr,  Offey,  the  apothecary, 
be  struck  out  of  the  will,  as  being  no  part  of  the  real  will 
of  the  deceased,  and  that  probate  be  granted  to  Francis 
Brown,  Esq.  the  next  of  kin  in  lieu  of  the  said  Mr. 
Offey  ;  that  the  legacies  of  25Z.  per  annum  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  five  cats,  and  the  bequest  to  St.  George's 
and  Middlesex  hospitals,  of  1000Z.  each,  together  with 
the  legacies  of  the  servants,  be  confirmed,  as  being  the 
will  of  the  deceased." 


Particulars  relative  to  Persons  who  swallowed  Stones, 
and  wonderful  Account  of  a  Stone-eater. 

(From  the  Philos.  Transact.  No.  253.) 


S 


III  Charles  Hall,  a  celebrated  physician  of  the  17th 
century,  relates  the  following  very  remarkable  case  of  a 
man  who  accustomed  himself  to  swallow  stones. — One 
Thomas  Gobsill,  a  lean  man,  aged  about  26  or  27  years, 
being  for  three  years  extremely  tortured  with  wind,  was 
advised  to  swallow  round  white  pebbles,  which  he  did, 
as  often  as  the  fit  returned,  and  the  stones  passing  easily 
through  him,  he  found  great  relief  from  the  practice. 
Bein^  seized  some  months  afterwards  with  a  violent  fit  of 

O 

his  disorder,  he  swallowed,  as  usual,  about  nine  stones, 
which  not  passing,  he  repeated  the  dose,  till  he  had  taken 
above  two  hundred.  These  stones  were  lodged  in  his 
belly  two  years  and  a  half,  when  he  first  applied  to  Sir 
Charles  Hall ;  and  then  he  complained  that  his  appetite 
was  gone,  that  he  could  digest  nothing,  but  threw  up 
whatever  he  ate.  Sir  Charles,  upon  examination,  found 
that  the  stones  were  situated  in  the  lower  part  of  the  ab- 
domen, and  that,  with  its  motion,  he  could  shake,  and 

make 


128  PARTICULARS    OF    STONE-EATERS. 

make  them  rattle  as  if  they  had  been  in  a  bag.  On  this, 
he  caused  a  ladder  to  be  set  against  a  wall,  and  hung  the 
patient  up  by  the  hams,  with  his  head  downward.  When 
he  was  in  this  posture,  he  told  Sir  Charles  that  the  stones 
had  got  up  into  his  stomach  ;  but  being  set  down  upon 
his  feet,  in  a  very  little  time  the  stones  were  plainly  heard 
to  drop  down  one  after  another. 

When  he  lay  in  bed,  the  stones  would  sometimes  get 
up  almost  to  his  heart,  and  give  him  great  uneasiness: 
at  such  times  he  was  obliged  to  rise  upon  his  knees,  or 
stand  upright,  when  he  could  hear  them  drop,  and  he 
always  reckoned  above  one  hundred.  He  was  so  disabled 
by  these  stones,  that  he  could  not  work,  but  with  pain, 
and  he  felt  the  same  at  night.  He  had  been  under  the 
hands  of  several  quacks,  but  all  the  medicines  they  em- 
ployed could  never  bring  from  him  a  single  stone. 

Dr.  Sloane  mentions  a  fact  of  "a  similar  kind,  from  his 
own  knowledge. — Mr.  Kingsmill,  for  several  years,  made 
a  practice  of  swallowing  nine  stones  at  a  time,  and  that, 
once  every  day,  without  any  injury.  They  were  nearly 
as  large  as  walnuts,  roundish  and  smooth,  and  he  found 
that  they  always  passed  ;  at  last,  however,  he  died  sud- 
denly. 

A  much  more  remarkable  circumstance  is  recorded  by 
Mr.  Boyle,  in  his  Experimental  Philosophy,  of  a  man  who 
not  only  swallowed  stones,  but  who  actually  lived  on  no- 
thing else.  "  Not  long  ago,"  says  Mr.  Boyle,  "  there  was 
here  in  England,  a  private  soldier,  very  famous  for  digest- 
ing of  stones  ;  and  a  very  inquisitive  man  assures  me  that 
lie  knew  him  familiarly,  and  had  the  curiosity  to  keep  in 
his  company  twenty-four  hours  together,  to  watch  him, 
and  not  only  observed  that  he  ate  nothing  but  stones  in 
that  time,  but  also  that  his  grosser  excrement  consisted 
chiefly  of  a  sandy  substance,  as  if  the  devoured  stones  had 
been  in  his  body  dissolved  and  crumbled  into  sand." 

What 


PARTICULARS    OF    STONE-EATERS.  129 

What  credit  is  due  to  the  above  account,  it  is  impos- 
sible at  this  distance  of  time  to  determine.  It  is  not  pro- 
bable that  such  an  accurate  observer  as  Mr.  Boyle  was 
imposed  upon;  and  indeed  his  statement  is  corroborated 
by  that  of  Dr.  Bulwer,  with  the  addition  of  other  cir- 
cumstances, if  possible  still  more  extraordinary.  That 
writer  in  his  Artificial  Changeling  says,  that  he  "  saw  the 
man,  and  that  he  was  an  Italian,  Francis  Batalia  by 
name  ;  at  that  time  about  thirty  years  of  age  ;  that  he 
was  born  with  stones  in  each  hand,  which  the  child  took 
for  his  nourishment  upon  the  physician's  advice  :  and  af- 
terwards nothing  else  but  three  or  four  pebbles  in  a 
spoon,  one  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  a  draught  of  beer 
after  them  ;  and  in  the  interim,  now  and  then  a  pipe  of 
tobacco  ;  for  he  had  been  a  soldier  in  Ireland  at  the 
siege  of  Limerick  ;  and  upon  his  return  to  London,  was 
confined  for  some  time  upon  suspicion  of  imposture." 
He  is  said  to  have  sometimes  eaten  half  a  peck  of  stones 
in  a  day. 

Of  this  man,  who  possessed  such  singular  powers  of  di- 
gestion, a  figure  is  still  extant,  engraved  by  Hollar  in 
1641,  in  which  he  is  represented  holding  a  goblet  in 
one  hand,  and  a  plate  with  stones  in  the  other.  Under- 
neath is  the  following  inscription  :  "  The  true  portraiture 
of  a  Roman  youth,  whose  strang  birth  and  life  cannot 
be  sufficiently  admired  :  hee  was  borne  houlding  three 
little  stones  in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  two,  and  being 
hold  to  his  mother's  brest,  he  refused  it  with  other  suste- 
nance, whereby  his  father  being  phisitian,  conjectured, 
that  nature  had  given  him  these  stones  for  foode,  and  by 
trial  finding  it  so,  fed  him  always  with  stones  and  read- 
wine,  which  in  6  days  space,  comes  from  him  converted 
into  sand  ;  thus  hee  hath  lived  the  space  of  17  years." 


Eccentric,  No.  III.  s  EXTRA- 


EXTRAORDINARY    HURRICANES    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

V/N  the  30th  of  October  1669,  the  wind  being  westerly, 
there  happened  at  Ashley  in  Northamptonshire,  a  dread- 
ful hurricane,  being  scarcely  sixty  yards   in  breadth,  and 
spending  itself  in  about  seven  minutes.     Its  first  assault 
was  on  a  milk-maid,  taking   her  hat  from  her  head,  and 
carrying  her  pail  many  yards,  where  it  lay  undiscovered 
some    days.     It  next  stormed  the  yard    of  Mr.  Sprigg, 
residing  at  West-thorp,  where   it  blew  a  waggon  body  off 
the    axle-trees,    breaking    the    wheels    and    axle-tree    in 
pieces,  and    blowing    three    of    the  wheels   so    shattered 
over  a  wall ;  this    waggon  stood    somewhat    across    the 
course   of  the  wind.     Another  waggon  belonging   to   Mr. 
Salisbury,  was  driven  with  great  force  against   the  side  of 
a  house  ;  a  branch  of  an   ash-tree,  which  two  stout  men 
could  scarcely  lift,    was  torn  from   a   tree  at  the  distance 
of  100  yards,  and   blown  over  his  house.     A  slate  that 
must  have  come  the  distance  of  200  yards,  none  being 
nearer,  struck  against  an    iron    bar    in    a  window,  and 
bent  it    very    much.     At  Mr.   MaidwelFs  the  hurricane 
forced    open    a    door,    breaking    the    latch,    and    forcing 
open  the  dairy  door,  it    overturned  the    milk    pails,  and 
struck  out  three  panes  in  the  window,  and  in   the  cham- 
bers  nine  panes  more.     It  tore  off   a  great  part  of  the 
rocf  of  the  parsonage  house,  and  rooted  up  a  gate  post 
2-i  feet  deep  in  the  earth,  and  carried  it  to  the  distance  of 
manv  yards. 

+i      «/ 

At  Tarbat  in  Scotland,  the  wind  was  uncommonly 
high  on  the  21st  of  December,  1674.  According  to  the 
testimony  of  Sir  George  Mackenzie,  it  broke  down  a 
s-fnndard  stone,  twelve  feet  high,  five  feet  broad,  and 
nearly  two  feet  thick,  that  stood  as  an  obelisk  near  an 
old  (lurch,  and  v/hcle  \\ocds,  though  they  lay  low,  were 

rooted 


ACCOUNT    OF    A    FEMALE    HERMIT.  131 

rooted  up.     The  wind,  which  for  a  long  time  had  conti- 
nued westerly,  then  blew  from  the  north-west. 


Surprising  Account  of  a  FEMALE  HERMIT,  who  has  re- 
sided twenty-three  Years  in  a  Cave  among  the  Mountains, 
in  the  State  of  New  York  in  America. 

JL  HAT  the  impulse  to  solitude  sometimes  acts  with  irre- 
sistible power  over  the  human  mind,  and  causes  man  to 
estrange  himself  entirely  from  the  society  of  his  fellow- 
creatures,  is  proved  by  numerous  instances  both  in  ancient 
and  modern  times.  These  instances  are,  however,  almost 
entirely  confined  to  one  sex.  Various  causes,  both  phy- 
sical and  moral,  concur  to  excite  in  men  a  frequent 
inclination  to  retirement ;  while  others  of  a  contrary 
nature,  produce  in  the  female  mind,  contrary  effects. 
Among  the  many  examples  of  total  seclusion  which  are 
upon  record,  there  are  very  few  of  women  who  have  sub- 
mitted to  its  privations.  To  find  one  of  the  fair  sex  im- 
mured in  a  cave,  remote  from  all  human  society,  may 
justly  be  considered  a  circumstance  not  a  little  remark- 
able. Acquainted  with  all  their  delicacy  of  body,  their 
natural  timidity  of  mind,  and  their  inordinate  love  of 
seeing,  and  being  seen,  we  cannot  withhold  our  astonish- 
ment when  we  find  them  forsaking  all  human  society  for 
the  dreary  haunts  of  savage  beasts,  and  the  account  ap- 
pears almost  too  romantic  to  obtain  belief. 

The  following  narrative  relating  to  a  singular  female 
character  of  this  description,  now  residing  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Salem,  in  Duchess  County,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  is  extracted  from  a  respectable  American 
publication,  to  the  editor  of  which  it  was  communicated, 
by  such  authority  as  not  to  admit  a  doubt  of  its  perfect 
correctness. 

s  2  Sarak 


132  ACCOUNT   OF    A    FEMALE    HERMIT. 

Sarah  Bishop  was  a  young  lady  of  considerable  beauty, 
a  competent  share  of  mental  endowments  and  education  ; 
she  possessed  a  handsome  fortune,  but  was  of  a  tender 
and  delicate  constitution,  enjoyed  but  a  low  degree  of 
health,  and  could  hardly  be  comfortable  without  con- 
stant recourse  to  medicine  and  careful  attendance.  She 
was  often  heard  to  say  that  she  had  no  dread  of  any  ani- 
mal on  earth  but  man.  Disgusted  with  them,  and  con- 
sequently with  the  world,  she  withdrew  from  all  human 
society,  and  at  the  age  of  about  twenty-seven,  resorted 
in  the  bloorn  of  life  to  the  mountains  which  divide 
Salem  from  North  Salem  :  where  she  has  spent  her 
days  to  the  present  time,  in  a  cave,  or  rather  cleft  of 
the  rock,  withdrawn  from  the  society  of  every  living 
creature. 

As  you  pass  the  southern  and  most  elevated  ridge  of 
the  mountain,  and  begin  to  descend  the  southern  steep, 
you  meet  with  a  perpendicular  descent  of  a  rock  of  about 
ten  feet,  in  the  front  of  which  is  this  cave.  At  the  foot 
of  this  rock  is  a  q-entle  descent  of  rich  and  fertile  ground, 

CD  O  * 

extending  about  ten  rods,  when  it  instantly  forms  a 
frightful  precipice,  descending  about  half  a  rnile  to  the 
pond,  known  by  the  name  of  Long  Pond. 

On  the  right  and  left  of  this  fertile  ground,  the  moun- 
tain rises  in  cliffs,  and  almost  incloses  it,  bein":  a  square 
of  about  one  half  acre.  In  the  front  of  the  rock  on  the 
north,  where  the  cave  is,  and  level  with  the  ground, 
there  appears  to  be  a  large  frustrum  of  the  rock,  of  a 
double  fathom  size,  thrown  out  of  the  rock  by  some  un- 
known convulsion  of  nature,  which  lies  in  front  of  the  ca- 
vity from  whence  it  was  rent,  partly  inclosing  the  mouth, 
and  forming  a  room  of  the  fame  dimensions  with  the 
frustrum  itself:  the  rock  is  left  entire  above,  and  forms 
the  roof  of  this  humble  mansion. 

This  cavity  is  the  habitation  of  this  female  hermit,  and 

here 


ACCOUNT    OF    A    FEMALE     HERMIT.  133 

here  she  has  spent  twenty-three  of  her  best  years,  self, 
excluded  from  all  human  society.  She  keeps  no  domes- 
ticated animal,  not  even  a  fowl,  a  cat,  or  a  dog.  Her 
little  plantation,  consisting  of  one  half  acre,  is  cleared 
of  its  wood,  and  reduced  to  grass,  hut  she  makes  little 
use  of  it,  excepting  that  she  has  raised  a  few  peach  trees 
on  it,  and  she  plants  yearly  a  few  hills  of  beans,  cu- 
cumbers, and  potatoes.  The  whole  plat  is  surrounded 
with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  grape  vines,  which  over- 
spread all  the  surrounding  wood,  and  produce  grapes  in 
the  greatest  abundance.  On  the  opposite  side  of  this 
little  tenement  or  cave,  is  a  fine  fountain  of  excellent 
water,  which  issues  from  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and 
loses  itself  in  this  little  place. 

At  this  fountain  (says  a  traveller  who  went  purposely 
to  visit  this  spot  in  November  1804),  we  found  the  won- 
derful woman,  whose  appearance  it  is  a  little  difficult  to 
describe;  indeed,  like  nature  in  its  first  state,  she  was 
without  form,  that  is,  she  appeared  in  no  form  or  posi- 
tion I  had  ever  seen  before;  her  dress  appeared  little  else 
but  one  confused  and  shapeless  mass  of  rags,  patched 
together  without  any  order,  which  obscured  any  human 
shape,  excepting  her  head,  which  was  clothed  with  a 
luxuriaricy  of  lank  grey  hair,  depending  on  every  side, 
just  as  nature  and  time  had  formed  it,  wholly  devoid  of 
any  artificial  covering  or  ornament. 

When  she  had  discovered  our  approach,  she  exhibited 
the  appearance  of  any  wild  and  timid  animal.  She 
started,  hastened  with  the  utmost  precipitation  to  her 
cave,  which  she  entered,  and  barricadoed  the  entrance 
with  old  shells  which  she  pulled  from  the  decayed  trees. 
To  this  humble  mansion  we  approached,  and  after  some 
conversation  with  her,  we  obtained  liberty  to  remove  the 
pallisadoes  and  look  in  ;  for  we  were  not  able  to  enter, 
the  room  being  only  sufficient  to  accommodate  a  single 

person, 


134  ACCOUNT   OF    A    FEMALE    HERMIT. 

person.  We  conversed  with  her  for  a  considerahle  time, 
found  her  to  be  of  a  sound  mind,  a  religious  turn  of 
thought,  and  to  he  entirely  happy  and  contented  with 
her  situation  ;  of  this  she  has  given  repeated  demonstra- 
tion to  others,  who  have  in  vain  solicited  her  to  quit 
this  dreary  abode.  We  saw  no  utensil,  either  for  labour 
or  cookery,  excepting  an  old  pewter  bason,  and  a  gourd- 
shell  ;  no  bed  but  the  solid  rock,  unless  it  were  a  few  old 
rags,  scattered  here  and  there  upon  it ;  no  bed  clothes 
of  any  kind  ;  not  the  least  appearance  of  any  sort  of 
food  and  no  fire. 

She  had,  indeed,  a  place  in  one  corner  of  her  cell, 
where  she  kindles  a  fire  at  times,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  any  fire  has  been  kindled  there  this  spring.  To  con- 
firm this  opinion,  a  gentleman  says,  that  he  passed  her 
cell  five  or  six  days  after  the  great  fall  of  snow  in  the  be- 
ginning of  March  last,  that  she  had  no  fire  then,  and 
had  not  been  out  of  her  cave  since  the  snow  had  fallen. 
How  she  subsists  during  the  severe  seasons,  is  yet  a  mys- 
tery. She  says  she  eats  but  little  flesh  of  any  kind, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  she  is  supported  through 
the  winter  season.  In  the  summer  she  subsists  on  the 
berries,  nuts,  and  roots,  which  the  mountains  afford.  It 
may  be,  that  she  secretes  her  winter  store  in  some  other 
fissure  in  the  rock,  more  convenient  for  that  purpose 
than  the  cell  she  inhabits. 

She  keeps  a  Bible  with  her,  and  says  she  takes  much 
satisfaction  and  spends  much  time  in  reading  in  it,  and 
meditating  therein.  It  may  be,  this  woman  is  a  sincere 
worshipper  of  God  ;  if  so,  she  is  yet  more  rich,  wise, 
and  happy,  than  thousands  in  affluence  and  honour,  who 
behold  her  with  astonishment  and  scorn.  At  any  rate, 
from  this  humble,  yet  astonishing  page  of  human  nature, 
we  read  a  most  interesting  lecture  on  the  human  heart. 
It  was  the  peculiar  state  of  this  woman's  heart  which 

drove 


ACCOUNT    OF   REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C.  135 

drove  her  to  forsake  the  society  of  mankind,  and  led  her 
to  this  solitary  mansion.  The  peculiar  relish  of  the  hu- 
man heart  will  embrace  solitude,  dishonour,  deformity, 
and  death  itself,  for  happiness,  whilst  its  antipathies  can 
embitter  a  paradise  of  joy. 


A  complete  chronological  List  of  the  Execution  and  Trials 
of  reputed  WIZZARDS,  WITCHES,  and  CONJURERS, 
together  witli  the  laivs  and  canons  made  against  them, 
from  the  most  remote  periods  to  the  present  time. 

T 

-L  HE  belief  in  the  arts  of  necromancy,  magic,  and  sor- 
cery, is,  like  the  belief  in  spirits  and  apparitions,  now  ex- 
ploded from  the  enlightened  classes  of  society,  and  con- 
fined to  a  fe\v,  and  those  the  most  illiterate  and  the  most 
credulous.  Of  the  mischiefs  resulting  from  such  notions, 

o  * 

the  following  list  of  facts,  connected  with  the  subject, 
affurds  ample  testimony.  As  we  proceed,  it  will  there  be 
seen  with  astonishment,  and  with  horror,  that  the  most 
trivial  circumstances,  tending  to  excite  the  suspicion  of 
witchcraft,  were  sufficient  in  the  dark  ages  to  draw  down 
upon  the  unfortunate  object,  the  most  cruel  and  ignomi- 
nious death. 

The  figures  denote  the  year  of  the  world  in  which  the 
different  circumstances  occurred. 

2000.  Zoroaster  was  a  king,  an  astrologer,  and  a 
learned  man,  and  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been 
the  original  inventor  of  diabolical  magic.  TSaude,  how- 
ever, in  his  apology  for  learned  men,  against  whom  the 
same  accusation  has  been  unjustly  preferred,  says  he  was 
only  a  learned  astronomer. 

2300.  The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Canaan  were  much 
addicted  to  divination,  soothsaying,  necromancy,  &c. 

The  Chaldeans  in  Assyria,  the  Brachmans  in  India, 

the 


136  ACCOUNT    OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,  &C. 

the  Magi  in  Persia,  and  the  Druids  in  Britain,  were  the 
philosophers  of  those  times  and  places,  and  mingled 
much  divination  with  their  religion  and  learning. 

2453.  Jannes  and  Jambres  oppose  their  art  to  the  mi- 
racles of  Moses.  The  law  of  Moses  forbade  the  use  of 
those  arts. 

2886.  Saul  either  destroyed  or  banished  the  practisers 
of  them,  yet  being  oppressed  with  great  fear  and  dejec- 
tion of  mind,  he  himself  afterwards  consulted  one  of 
them  at  En  dor. 

3220.  Numa  Pompilius  pretended  to  have  a  connection 
with  the  Goddess  Egeria,  and  founded  the  rites  and  reli- 
gion of  the  Romans.  In  many  writings  concerning 
witchcraft  he  is  reckoned  amono;  the  famous  magicians. 

O  O 

3420.  Pythagoras,  the  celebrated  Greek  philosopher, 
is  commonly,  but  falsely  said  to  have  used  magic. 

3497.  Among  the  laws  of  the  twelve  tables  at  Rome 
was  this ;  that  no  person  should  use  charms  to  draw  his 
neighbour's  corn  into  his  fields. 

3600.  Theoris  was  put  to  death  by  the  Athenians  as  a 
witch.  She  was  accused  by  her  maid,  who  shewed  the 
people  her  medicaments  and  charms. 

3625.  The  Jews  pretended  to  work  wonders  by  the 
Tetragrammaton  and  Cabala. 

The  Ephesia  Grammata  were  thought  to  work  won- 
ders among  the  Greeks.  If  they  were  to  wrestle  or  run 
or  to  plead  a  cause  in  law,  they  were  accustomed  to  carry 
these  in  order  to  help  themselves,  and  to  hinder  their 
enemies. 

Furius  Cresinus  was  accused  of  magic,  because  he 
had  better  crops  of  corn  than  his  neighbours.  In  his 
defence  he  produced  his  heavy  ploughs  and  spades,  and 
his  sun-burnt  daughters,  and  declared,  that  those  were 
all  the  charms  to  which  he  owed  his  success. 

A.  D.  14. 


ACCOUNT    OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C.  137 

A.  D.  14.  Tiberius  put  to  death  many  honourable  ci- 
tizen?, pretending  that  they  had  consulted  with  Chal- 
deans. 

19.  Germanicus,  the  nephew  of  Tiberius  died.  In  the 
corners  of  his  apartments  were  found  charms,  curses, 
his  name  inscribed  on  plates  of  lead,  pieces  of  human 
flesh,  ashes,  and  other  things  used  in  witchcraft.  He  was 
killed  by  actual  poison. 

Simon,  a  magician,  from  whom  the  first  of  the  heretics 
originated. 

Ely  mas,  a  magician,  opposed  St.  Paul. 

41.  Claudius  condemned  a  poor  knight,  because  he 
carried  about  him  an  egg  of  a  serpent,  in  the  hope  that 
it  would  enable  him  to  gain  a  law-suit, 

54.  Nero  went  through  all  the  ceremonies  and  prepa- 
rations for  magic,  with  the  most  celebrated  magicians  he 
could  procure  ;  but  found  nothing  real,  excepting  what 
they  effected  by  means  of  herbs  and  drugs,  in  the  way 
of  nature. 

Menander,  Basilides,  and  many  other  of  the  first  he- 
retics are  said  to  have  used  magic. 

70.  Pliny  relates,  that  in  his  time  an  orchard  was  car- 
ried across  a  public  highway  ;  he  does  not  say  that  this 
was  effected  by  means  of  charms,  but  yet  the  circumstance 
is  frequently  quoted  in  proof  of  magic. 

100.  Tacitus,  speaking  of  conjurors,  says:  "  They  are 
a  faithless,  fallacious,  sort  of  men,  that  were  always  for- 
bidden in  Rome,  and  yet  would  always  be  retained." 

About  this  time  lived  Apollonius  Tyaneeus.  His  life 
was  written  by  Philostratus,  for  the  amusement  of  the 
Empress  Julia  ;  and  his  biographer  relates  so  many  won- 
ders of  him,  that  many  Christians  believing  the  story, 
say  he  was  a  powerful  magician.  But  both  the  nature 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  facts,  and  the  testimony  of 
many  ancient  authors,  plainly  show  that  his  book  con- 

JEccentric*  No.  III.  T  tains 


138  ACCOUNT    OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C. 

tains  much  that  is  fabulous,  and  was  written  with  a  de- 
sign to  obscure  the  miracles  of  Christ. 

130.  About  this  time  Apuleius,  the  philosopher,  was 
accused  before  Claudius  Maximus  of  attracting  the  love 
of  Pudentilla,  a  rich  widow,  by  magic.  His  defence  is 
still  extant;  in  which  he  shows  that  a  widow's  affection 
might  be  engaged  without,  having  recourse  to  bad  arts. 

263.  Antonius  Caracalla  condemned  those  that  carried 
writings  about  their  necks,  to  cure  agues. 

321.  Constantine  prohibited  the  use  of  charms  to  do 
hurt,  but  allowed  those  that  were  employed  for  preserv- 
ing the  fruits  of  the  earth. 

361.  Julian  the  apostate  is  said  to  have  used,  but  in 
vain,  many  magical  and  idolatrous  rites ;  ripping  up  the 
bodies  of  virgins  and  boys,  in  the  hope  of  raising  the 
dead,  and  learning  from  them  the  success  of  his  expedition 
against  the  Persians. 

460.  The  Emperor  Leo  forbade  all  kinds  of  charms, 
whether  to  do  good  or  harm  ;  and  calls  all  such  pretences 
cheat  and  imposture. 

About  this  time  Merlin,  the  celebrated  English  magician, 
was  said  to  be  begot  by  an  Incubus.  Molitor,  and  other 
Popish  writers,  say  that  the  devil  lay  with  his  mother  ; 
but  that  he  stole  a  child  somewhere  else,  and  put  it  into 
the  midwife's  hands  at  the  time  of  delivery. 

968.  Duffus,  the  78th  King  of  Scotland,  languished 
under  a  sweating  sickness.  A  maid  was  examined  by  tor- 
ture, and  discovered,  that  her  mother  and  some  others 
roasted  the  King's  picture  by  a  slow  fire ;  and  on  their 
punishment,  the  King  recovered.  To  this  circumstance, 
Buchanan  adds,  "  These  things  I  deliver  as  I  received 
them  from  our  ancestors.  What  to  think  of  this  sort  of 
witchcraft,  1  leave  to  the  judgment  of  the  reader,  only 
reminding  him,  that  this  story  is  found  among  our  ancient 
archives  and  records." 

999. 


ACCOUNT    OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C.  139 

999.  Pope  Sylvester  II.  was  tutor  to  Robert  the  Good, 
King  of  France,  and  afterwards  to  Otho  III.  Emperor  of 
the  West.  By  their  interest  he  was  made  Pope,  and 
maintained  in  the  chair  against  the  will  of  the  Cardinals. 
He  being  a  learned  mathematician  in  an  ignorant  age,  his 
enemies  imputed  his  favour  with  those  princes  and  his 
curious  works  to  magic.  To  this  they  added  a  multitude 
of  ridiculous  fables,  particularly  the  following  :  "  that  his 
bones  shake  in  his  sepulchre,  and,  by  their  rattling,  por- 
tend the  death  of  their  Popes."  Of  these  tales  Cardinal 
Benno  and  other  papists  were  the  authors. 

1200.  Balsamon,  in  his  comment  on  the  83d.  canon  of 
St.  Basil,  says,  he  was  an  eye-witness  when  the  wife  of 
Alexius  Comnenus,  Emperor  of  the  East,  being  sick, 
some  gypsies  pretended  she  was  bewitched,  and  that 
they  could  cure  her.  They  secretly  hid  waxen  images  in 
corners,  and  then  pretended  to  foretel  where  they  should 
find  them,  and  who  made  them.  They  caused  many  inno- 
cent women  to  be  punished,  and  being  unable  to  effect  a 
cure,  at  length  absconded. 

1232.  Hubert,  Earl  of  Kent,  was  accused  of  stealing 
out  of  the  king's  jewel-house,  a  stone  that  would  make  a 
man  invisible,  and  of  giving  it  to  Llewellyn,  the  Welch 
Prince,  and  the  enemy  of  the  King.  He  was  likewise 
charged  with  having  drawn  the  King's  favour  to  himself, 
above  others,  by  sorceries. 

1253.  Robert  Grosted,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  a  man  of 
great  learning  and  virtue,  was  falsely  said  to  be  a  ma- 
gician. 

1264.  Roger  Bacon  was  accused  of  conjuration.  He 
was  twice  cited  at  Rome,  where  he  received  great  applause 
for  his  learning  and  ingenuity. 

1280.  Albertus  Magnus,  a  learned  and  pious  bishop, 
was  said  by  the  people  to  have  a  brazen  head,  which  gave 

him 


140  ACCOUNT    OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C. 

him  answers  to  all  questions.     He  is  one  of  the  great  men 
in  defence  of  whom  Naude  wrote  his  apology. 

1305.  Arnold  de  Villa  Nova,  a  learned  Italian  physi- 
cian and  philosopher,  was  condemned  by  the  inquisitors 
to  be  burned  at  Padua,  as  a  magician,  in  the  80th  year  of 
his  age. 

1316.  Peter  Apon,  of  Padua.  Many  learned  works  of 
his  remain,  and  being  written  before  he  was  24  years  old, 
it  was  said  that  he  was  taught  the  seven  liberal  arts,  by 
seven  spirits  which  he  kept  in  a  crystal.  He  was  con- 
demned by  the  inquisitors  as  a  magician,  but  dying  before 
the  execution  of  the  sentence,  he  was  burned  in  effigy. 

1347.  The  Pied  Piper,  at  Hameln,  in  Lower  Saxony, 
is  said  to  have  led  all  the  rats  and  mice  of  that  place  into 
the  river,  where  they  were  drowned  ;  but  being  denied 
his  pay,  he  piped  again,  and  led  all  the  children  of  the 
town  to  a  mountain,  which  first  opening,  and  then  closing 
again,  shut  them  all  in. 


Account  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  the  late  LORD  CA- 
MELFORD,  and  of  the  many  extraordinary  Adventures  in 
which  he  was  involved. 

(  With  a  Portrait.} 

J.T  is  impossible  to  survey  the  circumstances  of  the  life 
of  this  nobleman  without  regretting  that  the  virtues  and 
good  qualities  which  he  undoubtedly  possessed,  were 
obscured  and  misapplied  by  passions  sometimes  dangerous 
to  the  peace  and  welfare  of  society.  His  eccentricities, 
and  his  humours,  unlike  those  of  most  other  men,  fre- 
quently manifested  themselves  to  the  no  small  detriment 

of 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  14.1 

of  those  who  chanced  to  fall  within  the  sphere  of  their 
operation.  These  mischiefs,  however,  were  not  the  re- 
sult of  a  bad  heart ;  for  when  reason  and  reflection  re- 
covered the  dominion  which  the  love  of  every  species  of 
extravagancy  had  usurped  in  his  mind,  he  thought  no 
sacrifice  too  great,  to  repair  the  injuries  the  gratification 
of  his  humour  had  occasioned.  He  exhibited  a  singular 
compound  of  human  virtues  and  frailties;  being  dis- 
tinguished for  eccentric  boldness  and  intrepidity  of  spirit; 
for  many  acts  of  noble,  but  oddly  irregular,  beneficence  ; 
for  a  love  of  frolic  ;  and  a  passion  for  national  and 
scientific  pursuits;  at  one  time  for  uncommon  dignity, 
good  sense,  and  enlargement  of  sentiments  ;  at  another, 
for  unreasonable  positiveness ;  for  liberality  of  expence 
without  foolish  vanity  or  mad  profusion  ;  so  that  those 
who  studied  his  character  with  the  greatest  attention, 
knew  not  whether  they  ought  most  to  admire  his  virtues 
and  occasional  rectitude  of  understanding,  or  to  lament 
his  dangerous  eccentricities. 

Thomas  Pitt,  Lord  Carnelford,  was  the  great  grandson 
of  the  famous  Governor  Pitt,  who  acquired  the  greater 
part  of  an  ample  fortune  in  India,  by  the  advantageous 
purchase  of  a  diamond,  which  was  sold  in  Europe  with 
great  profit,  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  regent  of  France. 
He  was  related  by  blood  and  marriage  to  some  of  the  first 
families  in  the  kingdom ;  his  father,  who  was  elevated  to 
the  peerage,  in  1784,  being  the  nephew  of  the  late  Earl 
of  Chatham,  and  his  sister  having  married  Lord  Gren- 
ville. 

Lord  Camelford  was  born  February  26,  1775.  In  his 
spirit  and  temper,  when  a  boy,  there  appeared  something 
which,  though  vigorous  and  manly,  was,  however,  pecu- 
liar nnd  unmanageable.  He  received  at  Bern,  in  Swit- 
zerland, the  first  rudiments  of  his  education,  which  he 
afterwards  completed  at  the  Charter-house.  In  compli- 
ance 


142  LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

ance  with  a  predilection  of  his  own,  he  was  suffered,  at 
an  early  age,  to  enter  the  royal  navy  as  a  midshipman. 
Being  a  seaman  of  an  extremely  adventurous  spirit,  he 
by  his  eager  choice,  accompanied  the  late  Captain  Van- 
couver in  the  Discovery,  in  a  part  of  his  voyage  round 
the  world.  In  consequence  of  his  refractoriness  and 
disobedience  of  orders,  the  result  rather  of  a  certain  pecu- 
liarity of  temper,  than  of  either  badness  of  heart  or  want 
of  understanding,  he  put  Captain  Vancouver  to  the  neces- 
sity of  treating  him  with  a  severity  of  discipline,  which  he 
could  not  endure. 

He  accordingly  quitted  the  Discovery  in  the  Indian 
Seas,  and  entered  on  board  the  Resistance,  commanded  by 
Sir  Edward  Pakenham,  by  whom  he  was  appointed  lieu- 
tenant. During  his  absence  from  England  his  father  died, 
and  he  consequently  succeeded  to  the  title  and  family 
estates.  On  his  return  borne,  in  October,  1796,  he  sent  a 
challenge  to  Captain  Vancouver,  for  the  ill  treatment 
he  alledged  he  had  received  while  under  his  command. 
The  Captain  replied,  tbat  his  Lordship's  misbehaviour  had 
obliged  him  to  resort  to  the  measures  of  which  he  com- 
plained, and  that  the  steps  he  had  taken  were  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  discipline.  At  the  same 
time,  the  Captain  offered  to  submit  the  business  to  any  flag 
officer  in  his  Majesty's  navy,  and  if  the  latter  conceived 
that,  by  the  laws  of  honour,  he  was  liable  to  be  called  upon, 
he  would  willingly  give  his  Lordship  satisfaction.  This 
method  of  settling  the  dispute  was  by  no  means  congenial 
to  the  fiery  disposition  of  Lord  Camelford,  who  now 
threatened  the  Captain  with  personal  chastisement.  Nor 
was  it  long  before  an  opportunity  presented  itself  for  the 
execution  of  his  menace  ;  for  meeting  with  Vancouver 
in  Bond-street,  he  was  only  prevented  from  striking  him 
by  the  interference  of  his  brother.  The  chargrin  of  this 

unmerited 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  143 

unmerited  disgrace  is  said  to  have  preyed  with  such  vio- 
lence on  the  spirits  of  that  meritorious  officer,  as  to  pre- 
cipitate his  death,  which  took  place  not  long  afterwards. 
Having  attained   the  rank  of  master  and  commander, 
his  Lordship  was  appointed  to  the   command  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's sloop  Favorite.     That  vessel  and  the  Perdrix  were 
lying  in  English   Harbour,  Antigua,  on  the  thirteenth  of 
January,  1798.     At  this  time  Captain  Fahie  of  the  Per- 
drix, was  absent  at  St.  Kitts,  and  had  left  his  first  lieu- 
tenant Mr.  Peterson  in  chai'ge  of  his  ship.     Lord  Camel- 
ford,  who   was    consequently    the  commanding  officer  at 
English  Harbour,  issued  an  order,  which  Mr.  Peterson 
refused  to  obey,  conceiving  that  his  Lordship  had  no  right 
of  command  over  the  vessel  of  a  senior  officer.     The  two 
ships  were  hauled   alongside  each  other  in  the  dock-yard 
to  be  repaired,  and  the  companies  of  each  vessel  collected 
round  their  respective  officers  at  the  commencement  of 
the  altercation.     High  words  ensued  ;  the  lieutenant  still 
refused  to  obey,  and  soon  afterwards  twelve  of  tbe  crew 
of  the  Perdrix  arrived  at  the  spot  armed,  whom  Mr.  Pe- 
terson drew  up  in  a  line,  and  placed  himself  at  their  head 
with  his  sword  drawn.     Lord  Camelford  calling  out  six 
of  his  armed  marines,  ranged   them  in    a  line  opposite 
Lieutenant  Peterson's  men,  at  the  distance  of  about  four 
yards.     His   Lordship  retired,    but   returned    almost  in- 
stantaneously with  a  pistol,  which  he  had  borrowed  from 
an  officer  in  the  dock-yard,  and   advancing  towards  the 
lieutenant,  asked  him   whether  he  still  persisted  in  not 
obeying  his  orders.     "  Yes,  T  do  persist,"  was  his  reply : 
on  which  Lord  Camelford  immediately  put  the  pistol  to 
his  breast,  and  shot  him  through  the  body.     The  unfor- 
tunate   Peterson    fell    backward,    and  neither  uttered   a 
word,  nor  moved  afterwards.     After  this  decisive  measure, 
the  crews  retired   quietly  to  their  respective  ships,  and 

Lord 


144  LIFE    OP    LOUD    CAMELFORD. 

Lord  Camelford  surrendered  himself  to  Captain  Matson 
of  the  Beaver  sloop. 

This  fatal  event  excited  the  most  lively  sensation  at 
Antigua,  particularly  as  Lieutenant  Peterson  was  a  na- 
tive of  a  neighbouring  island,  of  a  respectable  family, 
and  much  esteemed ;  arid  the  populace  of  St.  John's 
were  only  restrained  from  personal  violence  against 
his  Lordship,  by  the  most  solemn  assurances,  that  a  ju- 
dicial investigation  should  be  instituted.  The  verdict  of 
the  Coroner's  jury  summoned  to  inquire  into  the  circum- 
stances of  the  death  of  the  unfortunate  lieutenant,  was 
that  he  "  lost  his  life  in  a  mutiny." 

In  the  Beaver  sloop,  Lord  Camelford  was  conveyed  to 
Fort  Royal  Bay,  Martinique,  where  a  Court  Martial  as- 
sembled on  board  the  Invincible  to  try  him  for  his  con- 
duct on  this  occasion.  The  court  continued  to  sit  from 
the  20th  to  the  25ih  of  January,  when  they  came  to  the 
following  determination:  "At  a  Court  Martial  held  on 
board  his  Majesty's  ship  the  Invincible,  in  Fort  Royal 
Bay,  Martinique,  Jan.  20,  1798,  and  held  by  adjourn- 
ment every  day  after,  Sunday  excepted,  until  the  25th  : — 
Present  William  Cayley,  Esq.  Captain  of  his  Majesty's 
ship  Invincible,  and  senior  Captain  of  his  Majesty's 
ships  and  vessels  in  Fort  Royal  Bay,  Martinique ;  Cap- 
tains Jemmet  Mainwaring,  Richard  Brown,  Charles 
Ekins,  and  Alexander  S.  Burrows.  The  Court  being 
duly  sworn  according  to  act  of  parliament,  in  pursuance 
of  an  order  from  Henry  Hervey,  Esq.  Rear-Admiral  of 
the  Red,  and  commander  in  chief  of  his  Majesty's  ships 
and  vessels  at  Barbadoes  and  the  Leeward  Islands,  pro- 
ceeded to  try  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Camelford,  acting 
commander  of  his  Majesty's  sloop  Favorite,  for  the  death 
of  Lieutenant  Peterson,  of  his  Majesty's  ship  Perdrix,  on 
the  evening  of  the  13th  of  January,  in  the  naval  yard  at 
Antigua ;  and  having  heard  the  whole  of  the  evidence 

adduced 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  145 

adduced  on  the  occasion,  and  what  the  prisoner  had  to 
offer  in  his  defence,  and  maturely  and  deliberately  con- 
sidered the  same,  and  being  fully  sensible  of  the  neces- 
sity of  prompt  measures,  in  cases  of  mutiny  and  disobe- 
dience of  orders,  the  Court  are  unanimously  of  opinion, 
that  the  very  extraordinary  and  manifest  disobedience  of 
Lieutenant  Peterson  to  the  lawful  commands  of  Lord  Ca- 
inelford,  the  senior  officer  at  English  Harbour  at  that 
time,  and  the  violent  measures  taken  by  Lieutenant  Pe- 
terson to  resist  the  same,  by  arming  the  Perdrix's  ship's 
company,  were  acts  of  mutiny  highly  injurious  to  his 
Majesty's  service ;  the  Court  do  therefore  unanimously 
adjudge,  that  the  said  Lord  Camelford  be  honourably 
acquitted,  and  he  is  hereby  unanimously  and  honourably 
acquitted  accordingly." 

After  this  acquittal,  his  Lordship  returned  to  take  the 
command  of  his  ship,  which  he  soon  afterwards  resigned, 
together  with  his  naval  profession.  His  personal  appear- 
ance while  in  the  service,  was  marked  by  the  same  ec- 
centricity by  which  he  was  distinguished  through  life. 
His  dress  consisted  of  a  lieutenant's  plain  coat,  without 
shoulder-knots,  and  the  buttons  of  which  were  as  green 
with  verdigrease  as  the  ship's  bottom.  His  head  was 
closely  shaved,  and  he  wore  an  enormous  gold-laced, 
cocked  hat.  In  his  professional  duties  he  was  a  severe 
disciplinarian,  and  was  particularly  attentive  to  the  com- 
fort and  relief  of  the  sick. 

Not  long  after  his  Lordship's  return  to  England,  he  con- 
ceived an  idea  which  certainly  could  not  have  entered  into 
the  head  of  any  man  besides  himself.  Thisissaid  to  have 
been  nothing  less  than  to  repair  to  Paris,  and  in  the  midst 
of  their  capital  to  attack  the  rulers  of  the  hostile  country. 
In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  on  the  night  of  Friday  the 
18th  of  January  1799,  he  took  a  place  in  one  of  the  night 
coaches  to  Dover,  where  he  arrived  early  the  following 

Eccentric,  No.  IV.  u  morning, 


146  LIFE    OP    LOKD    CAMELFORD. 

morning-,  and  went  to  the  City  of  London  Inn.  After 
taking  his  breakfast,  he  walked  about  the  pier,  and  en- 
quired for  a  boat  to  convey  him  to  Deal.  A  man  named 
Adams,  offered  to  take  him  thither  for  a  guinea.  Lord 
Carnelford  called  him  aside,  and  after  some  conversation, 
told  him  he  thought  he  should  have  occasion  to  go  to 
the  other  side  of  the  water,  and  that  he  wished  to  be 
landed  at  Calais,  as  he  had  some  watches  and  muslins 
which  he  wished  to  dispose  of  in  France.  He  then  bar- 
gained for  what  he  should  pay  to  go  to  Calais.  The 
boatman  asked  fifteen  guineas,  but  his  Lordship  told 
him  his  goods  would  not  afford  a  larger  sum  than 
ten.  At  length,  however,  it  was  agreed  that  he  should 
pay  twelve  guineas.  Some  other  conversation  passed, 
in  the  course  of  which  Lord  Camelford  observed  that, 
Turn  bull,  (the  soldier  who  shortly  before  had  robbed  the 
mint)  had  made  a  bungling  business  of  it,  and  did  not 
kno\v  how  to  go  about  an  affair  of  that  kind,  or  if  he 
had,  he  might  have  effected  his  escape.  Having  ap- 
pointed six  o'clock  in  the  evening  to  go  off,  they  parted. 
Adams  was  to  call  for  him  at  the  inn. 

Adams,  during  this  interval,  consulted  with  his 
brother,  who  had  a  share  in  the  boat,  on  the  busi- 
ness, and  they  both  agreed  to  acquaint  Mr.  Newport, 
the  collector,  with  the  conversation  which  had  passed 
with  the  stranger.  Mr.  Newport  accordingly  planned 
that  the  person  should  be  suffered  to  enter  the  boat,  and 
then  be  seized.  Adams  called  at  the  time  appointed,  at 
the  inn,  and  his  passenger  accompanied  him  to  the  water 
side.  He  recommended  to  him  to  put  on  one  of  his 
great  coats,  as  he  would  be  cold,  which  he  did.  Lord 
Camelford  then  entered  the  boat,  in  which  were  four 
men,  and  having  seated  himself,  Mr.  Newport  seized 
him,  saying,  "  You  are  my  prisoner!"  He  surrendered 
without  opposition,  arid  was  immediately  taken  to  the 

custom- 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  147 

custom-house,  where,  on  being  asked  his  name,  he  re- 
plied, "  Camelford."  Those,  however,  who  held  him  in 
custody,  were  totally  ignorant  of  the  rank  of  their  pri- 
soner, nor  did  they  know  who  he  was  till  their  arrival 
with  him  at  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  in  London. 
When  taken,  they  found  on  him  a  brace  of  pistols,  a  two- 
edged  dagger,  about  eight  inches  in  length,  and  rather 
curved  :  there  was  likewise  in  his  pocket  a  letter  in  French, 
addressed  to  some  person  at  Paris. 

On  Saturday  the  19th  of  January,  about  eleven  at 
night,  he  was  put  into  a  post  chaise,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing was  escorted  by  Mr.  Newport,  and  the  two  Adamses, 
whose  boat  he  had  hired,  to  the  Duke  of  Port- 
land's Office,  where  he  was  recognized.  A  privy  coun- 
cil was  immediately  summoned,  and  Mr.  Pitt  dis- 
patched a  messenger  to  Lord  Grenville,  who  was  at 
Dropmore,  requesting  him  to  come  instantly  to  town. 
The  privy  council  met  about  six,  and  examined  Mr. 
Newport  the  collector,  and  the  two  boatmen.  At  ten, 
Lord  Grenville  arrived  in  town,  and  had  a  long  confe- 
rence with  Mr.  Pitt,  but  did  not  see  Lord  Camelford, 
who  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  Johnson,  a  king's 
messenger. 

His  Lordship,  after  several  examinations,  was  dis- 
charged from  custody;  the  lords  of  the  council  bein«- 

•/      '  O 

fully  satisfied  that  his  intentions  were  such  only  as  he 
had  represented,  and  that  he  had  been  influenced  by  no 
other  motive,  than  the  wish  to  render  a  service  to  his 
country.  His  Majesty's  pardon  was  issued  under  the 
great  seal,  to  discharge  his  Lordship  from  the  penalties 
of  the  act,  passed  during  the  preceding  session,  which 
without  reference  to  motives,  made  the  mere  act  of  em- 
barking for  France  a  capital  crime. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  extraordinary  whim,  that  his 
lordship  again  pushed  himself  into  public  notice,  though 

in 


J48  LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

in  a  different  manner.  On  the  night  of  the  2d  of  April, 
the  same  year,  during  the  representation  of  the  farce  of 
the  Devil  to  Pay,  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  a  riot  took 
place  in  the  box-lobby,  occasioned  by  the  entrance  of 
several  gentlemen,  who  appeared  to  be  somewhat  intoxi- 
cated, and  who  began  to  break  the  windows  in  the  doors 
of  the  boxes.  They  were  proceeding  to  demolish  the 
chandeliers,  when  the  ring-leader  was  taken  into  custody 
by  one  of  the  constables  belonging  to  the  theatre.  He 
was  taken  to  St.  Martin's  watch-house,  where  he  was 
found  to  be  the  Hon.  Richard  King.  Lord  Camelford, 
whose  love  of  fun  had  made  him  a  party  in  this  distur- 
bance, was,  at  the  same  time,  taken  into  custody,  and 
likewise  conducted  to  the  watch-house,  being  charged 
by  a  Mr.  Humphries  vvitli  assaulting  and  wounding 
him.  His  lordship,  however,  being  well  known  to  the 
constable  of  the  night,  the  latter  took  his  word  for  his 
appearance  the  next  morning  at  the  Police  Office  in 
Bow  Street.  Mr.  Humphries  there  stated,  that  he  went 
to  look  into  one  of  the  boxes  for  some  friends,  when 
his  lordship  came  and  pushed  him  away,  on  which  he 
remonstrated  against  his  rude  conduct ;  that  Lord  Camel- 
ford  made  no  apology,  but  struck  him  a  violent  blow  on 
the  face,  which  knocked  him  down  some  stairs  near  the 
box-door,  that  when  he  got  up,  his  lordship  again 
knocked  him  down  the  stairs,  and  afterwards  gave  him 
several  violent  blows  on  the  face  and  head.  His  lord- 
ship denied  the  charge,  and  asserted  that  Mr.  Hum- 
phries had  first  assaulted  him,  by  endeavouring  to  push 
him  from  the  box-door,  but  the  evidence  against  him 
being  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  one  of  the  box- 
keepers,  and  a  fruit  woman  belonging  to  the  theatre, 
the  magistrate  observed,  hu  was  bound  to  believe  it, 
and  culled  upon  Ins  lordship  lor  bail,  to  answer  the  com- 
plaint at.  the  Westminster  Session?  Two  gentlemen  who 

attended 


LIFE   OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  149 

attended  his  lordship,  offered  to  become  bail,  but  they 
proving  not  to  be  housekeepers,  they  were  rejected  by 
the  magistrate.  Application  was  tben  made  to  the  mas- 
ter of  the  Spring  Garden  Coffee-house,  who  became 
bail  for  his  Lordship.  The  magistrate,  by  the  desire  of 
Lord  Camelford,  applied  to  Mr.  Humphries,  to  know 
if  he  would  be  satisfied  with  an  apology ;  but  the  latter 
declined  it,  saying  he  was  determined  to  bring  it  into 
court  for  the  sake  of  public  justice.  He  was  then  bound 
over  to  prosecute,  and  afterwards  preferred  a  bill  of  in- 
dictment, which  was  found.  Soon  after  this,  he  however 
gave  notice  to  his  lordship,  that  he  would  not  follow  it  up, 
but  would  bring  an  action  against  him  in  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench  for  the  assault. 

The  cause  accordingly  came  on  to  be  tried  before  Lord 
Kenyon  and  a  special  jury,  on  the  16th  of  May.  Mr. 
Gibbs  as  counsel  for  the  plaintiff,  stated  the  case  of 
his  client,  as  follows  :  On  the  2nd  of  April  the  ne- 
phews of  the  late  Mr.  Montgomery  Campbell,  the  East 
India  Director,  who  were  at  Eton  school,  were  on  a  visit 
in  town,  and  in  the  evening  were  taken  to  Drury  Lane 
Theatre,  whither  Mr.  Humphries  went  for  the  pnrpose 
of  meeting  them.  He  went  to  the  front  boxes  by  the 
way  of  Vinegar  Yard.  It  was  necessary  to  ascend  about 
four  steps  to  get  into  the  lobby  :  these  the  plaintiff 
had  ascended,  and  was  looking  through  the  glass  of 
the  door  of  one  of  the  boxes,  to  see  whether  his  com- 
pany were  there.  At  that  moment  Lord  Camelford  ad- 
vanced, and  pushed  him  away.  He  asked  him  why  he- 
did  so,  when  his  lordship  without  any  other  provocation, 
struck  him  with  his  fist  in  the  face,  and  knocked  him 
down  the  steps.  He  got  up,  and  again  enquired  the 
cause  of  this  treatment,  but  the  only  answer  he  received, 
was  another  blow,  which  again  knocked  him  down  the 
steps.  Mr.  Humphries}  as  sooii  as  he  wat  able  to  ri^e. 


150  LIFE    OF    LORI)    CAMELFOUD. 

again  requested  to  know  the  reason  of  such  strange  con- 
duct, told  him  his  own  name,  and  desired  to  know  who  it 
was  that  had  so  grossly  insulte  him.  Having  repeated 
his  question,  and  no  reply  heing  made,  he  told  him  he 
was  a  scoundrel.  Lord  Camelford  instantly  returned  to 
the  attack,  and  again  knocked  him  down ;  and  at  last  left 
him  with  one  of  his  eyes  almost  beaten  out,  and  wounded 
over  the  eye  near  the  temple.  For  this  assault  Mr.  Hum- 
phries demanded  redress  of  the  jury,  as  a  legal  tribunal, 
conceiving  himself  entitled  to  large  damages. 

Mr.  Gibbs  then  proceeded  to  call  his  witnesses. — 
James  Bennet  the  box-keeper  stated,  that  before  the 
first  blow  was  struck,  he  saw  the  two  gentlemen  looking 

*  o  o 

through  the  glass  in  the  door  of  the  box,  and  heard  one 
of  them  say,  he  had  as  much  right  to  look  through  as 
the  other,  on  which  he  was  immediately  knocked  down. 
He  corroborated  all  the  other  particulars.  Being  asked 
whether  Lord  Camelford  made  a  blow,  or  only  pushed 
Mr.  Humphries,  he  repeated,  it  was  a  blow  he  gave,  and 
said  that  Mr.  H.  after  being  knocked  down,  enquired  in 
the  mildest  tone  of  voice,  the  reason  of  his  conduct.  On 
his  re-examination  by  Mr.  Adam,  he  said  the  defendant 
was  a  tall,  powerful  man,  nearly  six  feet  high,  and  the 
plaintiff  a  short  man,  and  comparatively  weak.  His  tes- 
timony was  further  confirmed  by  Catherine  Brown,  a 
fruit-woman,  and  a  Mr.  Joseph  Cooper,  who  had  gone 
into  the  house  that  night  at  half-price.  The  personal 
injurysustained  by  Mr.  Humphries,  was  proved  by  Mr. 
Borlase,  the  surgeon,  who  had  attended  him. 

Mr.  Erskine  for  the  defendant  stated,  that  his  lord- 
ship has  been  uniformly  desirous  to  refer  the  affair  to 
private  arbitration  ;  but  that  in  the  shape  in  which  the 
question  was  then  brought  forward,  it  was  impossible  for 
the  jury  to  discover  who  had  provoked  the  quarrel.  The 
tact  was,  these  gentlemen  were  both  standing  up,  and 

looking 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  151 

looking  into  the  boxes,  when  a  dispute  arose,  but  which 
was  in  the  wrong,  there  was  no  evidence  to  prove.  Mr. 
Erskine  seemed  chiefly  to  rely  upon  the  argument,  that 
the  plaintiff  after  receiving  the  first  blows,  ought  to  have 
appealed  to  the  by-standers  instead  of  provoking  the 
defendant  by  the  expression  he  had  used. 

After  some  observations  from  Lord  Kenyon,  the  jury 
retired  a  very  short  time,  and  returned  with  a  verdict  for 
the  plaintiff,  damages  five  hundred  pounds. 

To  detail  all  the  adventures  in  which  Lord  Camelford 
was  concerned,  would  far  exceed  the  narrow  limits  to 
which  we  are  confined.  The  following  account  of  one 
out  of  the  many  nocturnal  frolics,  with  which  he  diverted 
himself,  will  serve  to  shew  the  eccentricity  of  his  cha- 
racter. Returning  home  one  morning  about  one  o'clock, 
accompanied  by  his  friend  Captain  Barrie,  and  passing 
through  Cavendish  Square,  they  took  it  into  their  heads 
to  chastise  the  guardians  of  the  night,  for  not  exercising 
due  vigilance.  Four  watchmen  whom  they  found  asleep 
at  their  posts,  were  soon  awakened  by  the  powerful  im- 
pression made  by  the  assailants  on  their  shoulders.  Two 
of  them  started  up,  but  were  soon  extended  on  the 
ground  ;  meanwhile  the  other  two,  springing  their  rattles, 
soon  brought  a  whole  host  of  their  colleagues  to  the 

o  o 

attack.  A  contest  of  an  hour  ensued,  when  they  at  length 
succeeded  in  taking  their  fashionable  antagonists  into 
custody,  after  many  blows  and  bruises  had  been  inflicted 
on  both  sides.  The  captive  heroes  guarded  by  nearly 
twenty  watchmen,  all  armed,  were  conveyed  to  the 
watch-house,  where  his  lordship  seemed  to  feel  himself 
quite  at  home.  The  captain,  who  had  been  the  greatest 
sufferer  in  the  fray,  by  no  means  liked  his  berth,  or  the 
treatment  he  had  received.  He  furiously  threatened  to 
cut  a  port-hole  through  the  side  of  the  cabin,  and  was 
proceeding  to  execute  his  menace,  when  a  second  scuffle 

ensued  • 


152  LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

ensued  ;  but  being  overpowered  by  the  number  of  bis 
enemies,  be  was  obliged  to  make  himself  contented  with 
his  situation.  The  next,  day  the  watchmen  carried  their 
prisoners  in  triumph  to  tbe  Police-office  in  Marlborough- 
street,  where  they  were  gratified  with  a  present  of  a 
guinea  a-piece,  and  his  lordship  and  the  captain  being 
discharged,  returned  home  to  refit  the  damages  their 
rigging  had  sustained  in  the  unequal  encounter. 

This,  however,  was  far  from  being  the  only  night  his 
lordship  passed  in  a  watch-house.  He  was  often  an  in- 
mate of  those  at  the  west  end  of  the  town,  and  on  such 
occasions,  he  generally  prevailed,  either  by  force,  or  more 
persuasive  methods,  on  the  constable  of  the  night  to  re- 
sign his  place  to  him.  He  would  then,  with  the  utmost 
gravity,  examine  all  delinquents  that  were  brought  in  by 
the  watch,  and  rejoiced  in  the  opportunity  of  exercising 
the  lenity  of  his  disposition,  by  invariably  directing  the 
offenders  to  be  discharged.  In  a  word,  there  was  no 
whim,  no  caprice,  however  eccentric  and  irregular,  but 
what  he  determined  to  gratify,  let  the  consequences  and 
the  costs  be  what  they  might. 

In  1801  when  the  joyful  return  of  peace  was  celebrated 
by  a  general  illumination,  no  persuasions  could  induce 
Lord  Camelford  to  suffer  lights  to  be  placed  in  the  win- 
dows of  his  apartments,  at  a  grocer's  in  New  Bond-street. 
In  vain  his  landlord  represented  the  inconveniences  that 
would  result  from  such  singularity;  his  lordship  con- 
tinued inexorable.  The  mob  soon  assailed  the  house,  and 
a  shower  of  stones  was  discharged  at  the  windows.  Irri- 

o 

tated  by  this  attack,  his  lordship  sallied  out  of  the  house, 
armed  with  a  pistol  which  he,  however,  prudently  ex- 
changed for  a  stout  cudgel.  With  this  he  maintained  a 
sharp  contest  for  a  considerable  time,  till  being  over- 
powered by  numbers,  he  was  severely  beaten,  and  after 
being  rolled  in  the  kennel,  was  obliged  to  retreat  in  a 

deplorable 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  153 

deplorable  plight.  The  windows  were  completely  de- 
molished. It  is  said,  that  on  the  succeeding  nights  of 
illumination,  his  lordship  had  in  waiting  a  party  of  sailors, 
ready  to  be  let  loose  on  his  opponents  in  case  of  a  repe- 
tition of  the  outrage. 

With  that  rugged  and  unbending  disposition,  which 
his  lordship  appeared  to  possess,  those  who  enjoyed  his 
intimate  acquaintance  can  testify,  that  he  combined  a 
high  degree  of  sensibility  and  benevolence.  The  following 
circumstances  prove  that  his  character  was  not  destitute 
of  amiable  qualities. — He  always  manifested  uncommon 
affection  for  the  two  children  of  his  sister.  For  the  grati- 
fication and  amusement  of  these  boys,  he  purchased  them 
a  couple  of  ponies,  together  with  all  the  necessary  ac- 
coutrements of  corresponding  dimensions,  and  it  was  one 
of  his  favourite  recreations  to  take  them  out  with  him  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  metropolis.  On  these  little  excursions, 
if  he  perceived  any  labourers  at  work,  or  perhaps  taking 
their  frugal  repast  in  the  fields,  he  used  to  stop,  and 
seating  himself  on  the  bank  beside  them,  he  would  engage 
them  in  conversation.  By  his  affability,  he  commonly 
obtained  a  knowledge  of  their  circumstances,  their  diffi- 
culties, and  the  little  secrets  of  their  families.  Never  on 
these  occasions  did  distress  plead  in  vain,  and  never  did 
his  lordship  part  from  those  whom  he  considered  deserving 
objects  of  his  bounty,  without  leaving  behind  him  some- 
thing to  alleviate  their  wants  :  thus  affording  an  example 
which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  not  be  lost  on  his  youthful 
companions.  On  his  return  home  his  little  favorites 
were  always  the  first  objects  of  his  care.  He  would  him- 
self take  off  their  boots  and  spurs,  and  he  attended  to 
their  ease  and  comfort  before  he  would  occupy  himself 
with  any  other  concerns. 

In  order  to  try  the  disposition  of  those  whom  he  con- 
sidered his  friends,  Lord  Camelford  has  been  known  to 

Eccentric,  No.  IV.  x  represent 


154  LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

represent  himself  to  be  greatly  in  want  of  money,  and 
to  request  the  loan  of  one  or  two  thousand  pounds. 
Some  of  those  to  whom  he  applied  gave  him  the  sum  re- 
quired, but  which  his  lordship  in  a  few  days  returned, 
at  the  same  time  informing  them,  that  he  only  wished  to 
ascertain  on  whom  he  could  rely  for  assistance  in  case  of 
any  emergency. 

His  irritable  disposition  which  had  involved  him  in  num- 
berless quarrels  and  disputes,  at  length  paved  the  way  to 
the  final  and  fatal  catastrophe.  Lord  Camelford  had  for 
some  time  been  acquainted  with  a  Mrs.  S — m — s,  who  had 
formerly  been  in  the  keeping  of  Mr.  Best,  a  friend  of  his 
lordship.  It  having  been  represented  to  him,  that  Best 
had  said  something  to  this  woman  to  his  prejudice,  he 
was  so  much  incensed,  that  on  the  6th  of  March,  meeting 
with  that  gentleman  at  the  Prince  of  Wales'  Coffee- 
House,  where  his  lordship  usually  dined,  he  went  up  to 
him  and  said,  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  all  who  were 
present:  "  I  find,  Sir,  that  you  have  spoken  of  me  in  the 
most  unwarrantable  terms."  Mr.  Best  replied,  that  he 
was  quite  unconscious  of  having  deserved  such  a  charge. 
Lord  Camelford  replied,  that  he  was  not  ignorant  of  what 
he  had  reported  to  Mrs.  S — m — s,  and  declared  him  to  be 
"a  scoundrel,  a  liar,  and  a  ruffian."  The  employment 
of  epithets  like  these  admitted  but  of  one  course,  and  a 
meeting  was  immediately  proposed  for  the  following 
morning;  each  having  appointed  his  second,  it  was  left 
to  them  to  fix  the  time  and  place. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  Mr.  Best  transmitted  to 
Lord  Camelford  the  strongest  assurances  that  the  informa- 
tion he  had  received  was  unfounded,  and  that  as  he  had 
acted  under  a  false  impression,  he  would  be  satisfied  if  he 
would  retract  the  expressions  he  had  employed :  but  this 
his  lordship  absolutely  refused  to  do.  Mr.  Best  then  left 
the  coffee-house  in  considerable  agitation,  and  a  note  was 

soon 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

soon  afterwards  delivered  to  his  lordship,  which  the  peo- 
ple of  the  house  suspected  to  contain  a  challenge.  A 
regular  information  was  accordingly  lodged  at  Marlbo- 
rough-street ;  but  notwithstanding  this  precaution,  such 
was  the  tardiness  of  the  officers  of  the  police,  that  no  steps 
were  taken  to  prevent  the  intended  meeting  till  nearly 
two  o'clock  on  the  following  morning,  when  some  persons 
were  stationed  at  Lord  Camelford's  door,  but  too  late. 

From  the  coffee-house  Lord  Camelford  went  on  Tuesday 
night  to  his  lodgings  in  Bond-street.  Here  he  inserted 
in  his  will  the  following  declaration,  which  strongly  marks 
the  nobleness  of  his  disposition, — "  There  are  many  other 
matters,  which,  at  another  time  I  might  be  inclined  to 
mention,  but  I  will  say  nothing  more  at  present,  than 
that  in  the  present  contest  I  am  fully  and  entirely  the 
aggressor,  as  well  in  the  spirit  as  in  the  letter  of  the  word  ; 
should  I  therefore  lose  my  life  in  a  contest  of  my  own 
seeking,  I  most  solemnly  forbid  any  of  my  friends  or 
relations,  let  them  be  of  whatsoever  description  they  may, 
from  instituting  any  vexatious  proceedings  against  my 
antagonist ;  and  should,  notwithstanding  the  above  de- 
claration on  my  part,  the  laws  of  the  land  be  put  in  force 
against  him,  I  desire  that  this  part  of  my  will  may  be 
made  known  to  the  King,  in  order  that  his  royal  heart 
may  be  moved  to  extend  his  mercy  towards  him." 

His  lordship  quitted  his  lodgings  between  one  and  two 
on  the  morning  of  Wednesday  the  7th  of  March,  and 
slept  at  a  tavern,  probably,  with  a  view  to  avoid  the  offi- 
cers of  the  police.  Agreeably  to  the  appointment  made 
by  their  seconds,  his  lordship  and  Mr.  Best  met  early 
in  the  morning  at  a  Coffee-house  in  Oxford-street,  and 
here  Mr.  Best  made  another  effort  to  prevail  on  him 
to  retract  the  expressions  he  had  used.  "  Camelford," 
said  he,  "  we  have  been  friends,  and  I  know  the  unsus- 
pecting generosity  of  your  nature.  Upon  my  honor, 

x  2  you 


156  LIFE   OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

you  have  been  imposed  upon  by  a  strumpet.  Do  not 
insist  on  expressions  under  which  one  of  us  must  fall." 
To  this  remonstrance  Lord  Camelford  replied :  "  Best, 
this  is  child's  play  ;  the  thing  must  go  on." 

It  has  nevertheless  been  asserted,  that  after  reflecting 
on  the  whole  affair,  Lord  Camelford  in  his  heart  acquitted 
Mr.  Best,  and  that  he  acknowledged,  in  confidence,  to 
his  second,  that  he  himself  was  in  the  wrong  ;  that  Best 
was  a  man  of  honor,  but  that  he  could  not  prevail  on 
himself  to  retract  words  which  he  had  once  used.  The 
reason  of  the  obstinacy  with  which  he  rejected  all  ad- 
vances towards  a  reconciliation,  was,  that  his  lordship 
entertained  an  idea,  that  his  antagonist  was  the  best  shot 
in  England,  and  he  was  apprehensive  lest  his  reputation 
might  suffer,  if  he  made  any  concession,  however  slight, 
to  such  a  person. 

Accordingly  his  lordship  and  Mr.  Best  on  horseback, 
took  the  road  to  Kensington,  followed  by  a  post-chaise, 
in  which  were  the  two  seconds.  On  their  arrival  at  the 
Horse  and  Groom,  about  a  quarter  before  eight,  the  par- 
ties dismounted,  and  proceeded  along  the  path  leading  to 
the  fields  behind  Holland  House.  The  seconds  stepped 
out  the  ground,  and  they  took  their  stations  at  the  dis- 
tance of  thirty  paces,  which  measured  exactly  twenty- 
nine  yards.  Lord  Camelford  fired  first,  but  without 
effect.  A  space  of  several  seconds  intervened,  and  from 
the  manner  and  attitude  of  Mr.  Best,  the  people  who 
viewed  the  transaction  at  a  distance,  imagined  that  he 
was  asking  whether  his  lordship  was  satisfied.  Mr.  Best 
then  fired,  and  his  lordship  instantly  fell  at  full  length. 
The  two  seconds,  together  with  Mr.  Best,  immediately 
ran  up  to  his  assistance,  when  he  is  said  to  have  seized 
the  latter  by  the  hand,  and  to  have  exclaimed,  "  Best,  I 
am  a  dead  man  :  you  have  killed  me,  but  I  freely  forgive 
you."  The  report  of  the  pistols  had  alarmed  several  per- 
sons 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD.  1 57 

sons  who  were  at  work  near  the  spot,  and  who  now 
hastened  towards  the  place,  when  Mr.  Best  and  his  second 
thought  it  most  prudent  to  provide  for  their  own  safety. 
One  of  Lord  Holland's  gardeners  was  now  approaching, 
and  called  to  his  fellow  labourers  to  stop  them.  On  his 
arrival,  Lord  Camelford's  second,  who  had  been  support- 
ing him  as  well  as  he  was  able,  ran  for  a  surgeon,  and  Mr. 
Thompson  of  Kensington  soon  afterwards  came  to  his 
assistance.  His  Lordship  then  asked  the  man  why  he 
had  called  out  to  stop  the  gentlemen  ?  and  declared  that 
*'  he  did  not  wish  them  to  be  stopped  ;  that  he  was  him- 
self the  aggressor,  that  he  forgave  the  gentleman  who  had 
shot  him,  and  hoped  God  would  forgive  him  too."  Mean- 
while a  chair  was  procured,  and  his  lordship  was  carried 
to  Little  Holland  House,  the  residence  of  Mr.  Ottey  : 
messengers  were  dispatched  for  Mr.  Knight  and  Mr. 
Home,  and  an  express  was  sent  to  acquaint  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Cockburne,  his  Lordship's  cousin,  with  the  melancholy 
catastrophe.  That  gentleman,  after  sending  information 
of  the  circumstance  to  the  noble  relatives  of  his  lordship, 
hastened  to  the  place.  Mr.  Knight  the  surgeon,  and 
Captain  Barrie,  his  lordship's  most  intimate  friend,  were 
by  his  bed-side,  and  Mr.  Home  arriving  in  a  few  minutes, 
his  clothes  were  cut  off,  and  the  wound  being  examined 
by  the  surgeons,  was  immediately  pronounced  to  be  mor- 
tal. 

Lord  Camelford  continued  in  agonies  of  pain  during 
the  first  day  ;  towards  the  evening  his  sufferings  somewhat 
abated,  and  by  the  help  of  laudanum  he  got  some  sleep  in 
the  night,  so  that  in  the  morning  he  found  himself  much 
relieved.  During  the  second  day  his  hopes  revived  con- 
siderably, and  he  conversed  with  some  cheerfulness  ;  yet 
the  surgeons,  who  were  unremitting  in  their  attentions, 
would  never  give  his  friends  the  slightest  hopes. 

To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cockburne,  who  remained  with  him 

till 


158  LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

till  he  expired,  his  lordship  expressed  his  confidence  in 
the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  ;  he  said  he  received 
much  comfort  in  reflecting,  that  however  he  might  have 
acted,  he  had  never  really  felt  ill-will  towards  any  man. 
In  the  worst  moments  of  his  pain,  he  cried  out,  that  he 
sincerely  hoped  that  the  agonies  he  then  endured  might 
expiate  the  sins  he  had  committed.  "  I  wish,"  says  Mr. 
Cockburne, "  with  all  my  soul,  that  the  unthinking  votaries 
of  dissipation  and  infidelity  could  all  have  been  present  at 
the  death-bed  of  this  poor  man  ;  could  have  heard  his 
expressions  of  contrition,  for  past  misconduct  ;  and  of 
reliance  on  the  mercy  of  his  Creator ;  could  have  heard 
his  dying  exhortation  to  one  of  his  intimate  friends,  to 
live  in  future  a  life  of  peace  and  virtue  ;  I  think  it  would 
have  made  an  impression  on  their  minds,  as  it  did  on  mine, 
not  easily  to  be  effaced." 

He  lingered  free  from  acute  pain  from  Thursday  till 
Saturday  evening,  about  half  past  eight,  when  a  mortifi- 
cation having  taken  place  he  expired,  apparently  without 
sense  of  pain. 

Thus  died  Thomas  Lord  Camelford,  in  the  prime  and 
full  vigour  of  life.  He  was  a  man  whose  real  character 
was  but  little  known  to  the  world  ;  his  imperfections  and 
his  follies  were  very  often  brought  before  the  public,  but 
the  counterbalancing  virtues  he  manifested,  were  but 
seldom  heard  of.  Though  too  violent  to  those  whom  he 
imagined  to  have  wronged  him,  yet  to  his  acquaintance 
he  was  mild,  affable,  and  courteous;  a  stern  adversary  but 
the  kindest  and  most  generous  of  friends.  Slow  and 
cautious  in  determining  upon  any  important  step,  while 
deliberating,  he  wras  most  attentive  to  the  advice  of  others 
and  easily  brought  over  to  their  opinion ;  when  however 
his  resolution  was  once  taken,  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
turn  him  from  his  purpose.  That  warmth  of  disposition, 
which  prompted  him  so  unhappily  to  great  improprieties, 

prompted 


LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFOHD.  159 

prompted  him  also   to  the  most  lively   efforts  of  active 
benevolence.     From  the  many  prisons  in  the  metropolis, 
from  the  various  receptacles  of  human  misery,  he  received 
unnumbered  petitions  ;  and  no  petition  ever  came  in  vain. 
He  was  often  the  dupe  of  the  designing  and  'crafty  sup- 
pliant, but  he  was  more  often  the  reliever  of  real  sorrow, 
and  the  soother  of  unmerited  woe.     Constantly  would  he 
make  use  of  that  influence,  which  rank  and  fortune  gave 
him  with  the   government,   to  interfere  in  behalf  of  those 
malefactors  whose  crimes  had  subjected  them  to  punish- 
ment, but  in  whose  cases  appeared  circumstances  of  alle- 
viation.    He  was  passionately  fond  of  science,  and  though 
his  mind,  while  a  young  sailor,  had  been  little  cultivated, 
yet  of  late  years  he  had  acquired  a  prodigious  fund  of 
information,   upon  almost  every  subject  connected  with 
literature.     In  early  life  he  gloried  much  in  puzzling  the 
chaplains  of  the  ships  in  which  he  served,  and  to  enable 
him  to  gain  such  triumphs,  he  had  read  all  the  sceptical 
books  he  could  procure  ;     and  thus    his  mind   became 
involuntarily  tainted  with  infidelity.    As  his  judgment  grew 
more  matured,  he  discovered  of  himself  the  fallacy  of  his 
own  reasonings,  he  became  convinced  of  the  importance 
of  religion,  and  Christianity  was  the  constant  subject  of 
his  reflections,  his  reading,  and  conversation. 

On  the  morning  after  his  decease,  an  inquest  was  taken 
at  the  White  Horse,  Kensington,  before  George  Hodgson, 
Esq.  the  coroner  for  Middlesex,  when  the  jury  after  view- 
ing the  body,  unanimously  returned  a  verdict  of  wilful 
murder,  against  some  person  or  persons  unknown.  A 
bill  of  indictment  was  consequently  preferred  against  Mr. 
Best  and  the  seconds,  but  it  was  thrown  out  by  the  grand 
Jury. 

On  Sunday,  March  the  llth,  the  body  of  Lord  Camel- 
ford  was  opened,  when  it  appeared  that  the  ball  had 

penetrated 


160  LIFE    OF    LORD    CAMELFORD. 

penetrated  the  right  breast,  between  the  fourth  and  fifth 
ribs,  breaking  the  latter  and  making  its  way  through  the 
right  lobe  of  the  lungs,  into  the  sixth  dorsal  vertebra, 
where  it  lodged,  having  completely  divided  the  spinal 
marrow.  In  the  chest  there  were  upwards  of  six  quarts  of 
extravasated  blood,  which  had  compressed  the  lungs  so  as 
to  prevent  them  from  performing  their  functions.  From 
the  time  of  receiving  the  wound,  all  the  parts  below  the 
divided  spinal  marrow,  were  motionless  and  insensible ; 
and  as  his  lordship  could  not  expectorate,  the  left  lung 
became  filled  with  mucus,  which  ultimately  produced 
suffocation  and  death. 

The  body  was  then  removed  to  Carnelford  House, 
whence  on  the  17th  it  was  conveyed  to  the  vault  in  St. 
Anne's  Church,  Soho,  where  it  will  remain  till  arrange- 
ments can  be  made  for  its  removal  to  Switzerland,  in 
compliance  with  his  lordship's  desire.  The  coffin  is  co- 
vered with  rose  coloured  velvet,  with  a  profusion  of  silver 
clasps.  There  are  two  plates;  the  upper  contains  the 
arms  coloured,  and  underneath  the  following  inscription  : 
"The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Camelford  died  the  10th  March, 
1804,  aged  29  years.'  The  lower  plate  contains  only  a 
coronet. 

His  lordship  has  bequeathed  the  principal  part  of  his 
fortune  to  his  sister  Lady  Grenville,  Avho  is  the  sole  execu- 
trix, together  with  the  family  estates,  producing  nearly 
20,0001.  per  annum  ;  and  afterwards,  in  default  of  issue, 
to  the  Earl  of  Chatham's  family,  who  are  next  in  the 
entail.  The  title  is  extinct.  Among  the  legacies  is  the 
sum  of  10001.  for  the  purchase  of  a  particular  spot  of 
ground  in  the  canton  of  Bern  in  Switzerland,  situated  be- 

o  * 

tween  three  trees,  where  he  wished  to  be  interred.  Exclu- 
sive of  bequests  to  Captain  Barrie  and  Mr.  Accum  the 
chemist  who  assisted  him  in  his  laboratory,  his  lordship 
has  left  considerable  sums  to  be  devoted  to  charitable 
purposes. 

A  com- 


[     161     ] 

A  complete  chronological  List  of  the  Execution  and  Trials 
of  reputed  Wizzards,  Witches,  and  Conjurors,  together 
with  the  laws  and  canons  made  against  them,  from  the 
most  remote  period  to  the  present  time . 

( Continued  from  page  140.) 

1417.  V^UEEN  JOAN  committed  to  prison  upon  suspicion 
of  seeking  the  king's  death  by  sorcery.  Friar  Randolf 
was  said  to  be  her  agent. 

1427.  Joan  of  Arc,  commonly  called  the  Maid  of 
Orleans,  who  headed  the  French  forces,  and  principally 
contributed  to  the  expulsion  of  the  English  from  France, 
was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  burned 
as  a  witch. 

1441.  The  Duke  of  Glocester,  uncle  to  king  Henry  VI. 
preferred  articles  against  his  great  uncle  the  cardinal. 
The  cardinal  being  unable  to  bring  any  charge  against 
the  duke  in  return,  accused  his  duchess  of  seeking  the 
king's  death  by  sorcery.  We  are  not  informed  that  it 
was  pretended  the  king  had  suffered  any  injury,  but  yet 
the  duchess  was  sentenced  to  do  penance.  Her  agent 
Margery  Gurdeman  of  Eye  in  Suffolk,  was  burned  for  a 
witch  at  Smithfield.  Roger  Bullingbrook  was  hanged, 
but  declared  that  the  duchess  had  only  desired  to  know  of 
him  how  long  the  king  would  live.  Thomas  Southwell 

o  c? 

died  the  night  before  his  execution,  and  Roger  only  was 
hanged,  but  previously  wrote  a  book  attesting  his  own  in- 
nocence, and  in  opposition  to  the  opinions  of  the  vulgar. — 
Five  years  afterwards  the  duke  himself  was  murdered  by 
his  enemies. 

In  the  ages  preceding  this  period,  we  meet  with  a 
multitude  of  miracle?,  but  not  many  witches.  About 
this  time  or  a  little  before,  they  began  to  increase;  so 
that  in  1398,  the  University  of  Paris,  in  the  preface  to 

Eccentric,  No.  IV.  Y  their 


162  ACCOUNT  OF  REPUTED  WITCHES,  &c. 

their   rules  for  judging  witches,  say  that  the  crime  was 
more  common  in  that  age  than  it  had  been  before. 

1455.  Several  women  were  burned  for  witches  in 
Savoy. 

1483.  Richard     III.,    commonly    called     Crookback, 
having  murdered  the  kinsmen  of  the  queen  dowager,  and 
imprisoned  his  nephews    who  were  heirs  to  the  crown, 
(and  whom  he  afterwards  caused  to  be  assassinated,)  pre- 
tended  in    the    privy  council  that  the  queen    and   Jane 
Shore  had  made  his  arm  wither  and   consume  by  sorcery, 
at  the  same  time  stripping  it  that  they  might  see  it.     It 
was  however  well  known    that  his  arm  had  been  in  that 
state  for  a  considerable  time. 

The  same  year  Hichard  attainted  for  sorcery  several 
persons  who  supported  the  line  of  Lancaster,  as  the 
Countess  of  Richmond,  mother  of  Henry  VII  ;  Morton, 
afterwards  archbishop  of  Canterbury  ;  Dr.  Lewis,  William 
Knevit,  and  Thomas  Nandyck,  of  Cambridge,  called  the 
conjuror.  Nandyck  was  taken  and  condemned,  but  his 
life  was  saved  by  the  Parliament. 

1484.  The  belief  of  witches  and  their  power  was  now 
&o  firmly  established,  that   Pope   Innocent  VIII.  directed 
a  very  superstitious  bull  to   the  inquisitors,   empowering 
them   to    discover   and    burn  all  persons  who  practised 
witchcraft.     The  substance  of  this  bull  is  as  follows  : 

"It  is  come  to  our  ears,  that  great  numbers  of  both 
sexes  are  not  afraid  to  abuse  their  own  bodies  with  devils 
that  serve  to  both  sexes  ;  and  with  their  enchantments, 
charms  and  sorceries,  to  vex  and  afflict  man  and  beast 
with  inward  and  outward  pains  and  tortures.  They  ren- 
der men  and  women  impotent  for  generation  ;  they  de- 
stroy the  births  of  women,  and  the  increase  of  cattle  : 
they  blast  the  corn  of  the  ground,  the  grapes  of  the 
vines,  the  fruit  of  the  trees,  and  the  grass  and  herbs  of 
the  fields,  &c.  Therefore  with  the  authority  apostolic, 

we 


ACCOUNT    OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C.  163 

we   give  power   to    the    inquisitors,  &c.  to  convict,  im- 
prison and  punish,  &c." 

From  the  time  of  this  extraordinary  bull,  the  number 
of  executions  continued  to  increase,  particularly  in  places 
where  the  Waldensesand  Protestants  were  most  numerous, 
The  same  observation  is  made  by  the  Jesuit  Delrio,  who 
gives  several  reasons  why  Protestants  should  be  so  very 
much  in  the  power  of  the  devil. 

1485.  Cumanus  burned  forty  poor  women  for  witches, 
in  the  country  of  Burlia,  in  one  year.  He  caused  them 
first  to  be  shaved,  that  they  might  be  searched  for  marks. 
He  continued  these  persecutions  in  the  following  years, 
and  great  numbers  fled  the  country. 

About  this  time,  as  we  are  informed  by  Alcial,  a  cele- 
brated lawyer,  one  inquisitor  burned  one  hundred  in 
Piedmont,  and  proceeded  in  his  pious  duty,  till  the  people 
rose  and  drove  him  out  of  the  country. 

1488.  A  violent  tempest  of  thunder  and  lightning  in 
Constance,  destroyed  the  corn  for  four  leagues  round. 
The  people  accused  one  Anne  Mindelen,  and  another 
female  named  Agnes,  of  being  the  cause  of  this  cala- 
mity. They  confessed  and  were  burned. 

About  this  time,  says  H.  Institor,  one  of  the  inquisi- 
tors came  to  a  certain  town  that  was  almost  desolated  by 
plague  and  famine.  It  was  there  reported,  that  a  certain 
woman,  buried  not  long  before,  was  eating  up  her  wind- 
ing sheet,  and  that  the  plague  would  not  cease  till  she 
had  made  an  end  of  it.  This  matter  being  taken  into 
consideration,  Scultetus  with  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
city  opened  the  grave,  and  found  that  she  had  actually 
swallowed  and  devoured  one  half  of  her  winding-sheet. 
Scultetus,  moved  with  horror,  drew  his  sword,  cut  off 
her  head,  and  threw  it  into  a  ditch.  On  this,  the  plague 
immediately  ceased,  and  the  inquisition  sitting  on  the 

Y  2  case, 


164  ACCOUNT   OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C. 

case,  it  was  discovered  that  the  woman  had  long  been  a 
reputed  witch. 

George  Ripley  who  wrote  several  books  on  mathema- 
tics, and  William  Blackriey,  D.D.  were  about  this  time 
accounted  necromancers.  The  same  charge  was  likewise 
preferred  against  John  Trithemius,  abbott  of  Spanheim  in 
Germany,  and  a  man  of  great  learning. 

1515.  About  this  time,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
the  Jesuit  Delrio,  five  hundred  were  executed  at  Geneva, 
in  three  months.  It  is  very  probable  that  in  this  number 
were  many  poor  Waldenses,  who  were  denominated  by  the 
Catholics,  Protestant  witches  and  wizzards. 

Forty-eight  were  burned  at  Ilavensburg  in  Germany 
in  five  years. 

1520.  Multitudes  were  about  this  period  burned  in 
France.  One  Triscula  told  Charles  IX.  that  there  were 
many  thousands  of  witches  in  his  kingdom. 

1523.  Pope  Adrian  VI.  enforced  his  predecessor's  bull 
concerning  witchcraft,  and   extended   the  powers  of  the 
inquisitors. 

1524.  About  this  time  one  thousand  were  burned  in  one 
year  in  the  diocese  of  Como,  in  Italy,  and  one  hundred 
annually  for  several  successive  years. 

1534.  Elizabeth  Barron,  the  maid  of  Kent,  fell  into 
strange  trances,  and  spoke  in  a  manner  so  very  superior 
to  her  ordinary  conversation,  that  many  thought  her  fits 
were  supernatural.  At  length  inveighing  against  the 
king's  marriage,  she  was  apprehended,  and  confessed 
herself  an  impostor.  She  was  hanged,  together  with 
seven  men,  who  had  prompted  and  aided  her  in  the  de- 
ception. 

1536.  Forty  witches  are  said  to  have  renewed  a  plague 
at  Cassalis,  in  Italy,  by  besmearing  the  posts  of  the 
doors  with  an  ointment  and  powder. 

1541. 


ACCOUNT   OF    REPUTED    WITCHES,    &C. 

1541.  Lord  Hungerford  was  beheaded  for  procuring 
certain  persons  to  conjure,  to  know  how  long  Henry 
VIII.  would  live.  The  same  year  two  acts  of  parlia- 
ment were  passed,  one  against  false  prophecies,  the  other 
against  conjuration,  witchcraft  and  sorcery. 

1549.  Among  Archbishop  Cranmer's  articles  of  visita- 
tion was  the  following  :  "  You  shall  enquire,  whether  you 
know  of  any  that  use  charms,  sorcery,  enchantments, 
witchcraft,  soothsaying,  or  any  like  craft  invented  by  the 
devil." 

1553.  Guillaume  de  Line,  a  celebrated   preacher,  con- 
demned for  sorcery  at  Poitiers  in  France. 

1554.  The  celebrated  imposture    of   the    spirit  in  the 
wall,  that  spoke  many  seditious  things  in  London.     It 
was  afterwards  discovered  to  be  the  contrivance  of  a  girl 
named  Elizabeth  Crofts,  who,  from  a  private  hole  in  the 
wall,    had,  with    the    help    of  a    whistle,  uttered    those 
words.     A  man  named  Drake  was  her  confederate. 

1559.  In  the  second  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign, 
was  renewed  the  same  article  relative  to  the  inquiry  after 
sorcerers,  with  this  addition,  "  especially  in  the  time  of 
women's  travail." 

1560.  This  year  Hugh   Draper,  of  Bristol,  merchant ; 
Leonard   Bilson,  of  Winchester,  clerk ;  Robert  Man,  of 
London,    ironmonger  ;    Ralph     Poynte,     of    Fekenham, 
Worcestershire,    miller  ;    Francis    Cocks,     of    London, 
yeoman ;    John    Cocks,    of   Winchester,   clerk  ;    Fabian 
Withers,  of   Clerkenwell,  salter ;    and    John    Bright    of 
Winchester,  goldsmith,  were  taken    up    for    conjuration 
and  sorcery  ;    and    being    committed  to  the  Fleet,  were 
tried  at  Westminster,  and  confessed  their  wicked  actions, 
and   in   open  court    bound   themselves   by   the   following 
oath,  to  abstain  from  the  like  acts  for  the  future.     "  Ye 
shall    swear    that,    from  henceforth,    ye    shall    not    use, 

practice, 


166  SINGULAR   ORDER   OF    COUNCIL. 

practice,  devise,  or  put  in  ure  or  exercise,  or  cause,  pro- 
cure, counsel,  agree,  assist,  or  consent  to  be  used,  devised, 
or  practised,  or  put  in  ure  or  exercised,  any  invocations 
or  conjurations  of  spirits,  witchcrafts,  inchantments  or 
sorceries,  or  any  thing  whatsoever  touching,  or  in  any 
wise  concerning  the  same,  or  any  of  them,  to  the  intent  to 
get  or  find  any  money  or  treasure,  or  to  waste,  consume, 
or  destroy  any  person  in  his  members,  body  or  goods,  or 
to  provoke  any  to  unlawful  love,  or  to  know,  tell  or  de- 
clare, where  goods  lost  or  stolen  become,  or  for  any  other 
purpose,  end,  or  interest  whatsoever.  So  help  you  God 
and  the  holy  contents  of  this  book."  After  taking  this 
oath,  they  were  led  through  Westminster  Hall,  and  by 
the  special  command  of  the  queen  and  her  council,  were 
set  in  the  pillory  before  the  queen's  palace  below  the  same 
hall. 


SINGULAR  ORDER  OF  COUNCIL. 

The  following  Order  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Council,  describing  the  dress  of  a 
Page  who  had  absconded  with  some  valuable  effects,  serves  to  place  in  a 
very  striking  light  the  contrast  between  the  dress,  manners,  and  habits  of 
that  age,  and  those  of  the  present. 

J-  HESE  are  to  praye  and  requier  you  to  make  present 
serch  within  your  ward,  and  charges  presently  to  macke 
hew  and  cry  for  a  yong  stripling  of  the  age  of  xxij  yeres, 
the  coler  of  his  aparell  as  followeth.  One  doblet  of  ye- 
low  million  fustion  th'  one  half  thereof  buttoned  with 
peche  colour  bottous;  one  payer  of  peche  colour  hose, 
laced  with  smale  tawnye  lace,  and  th'  other  halfe  laced 
downewards  ;  a.  graye  hat  with  a  copper  edge  rounde 
aboute  it  with  a  bande,  pcell  of  the  same  hatt  a  payer  of 
watched  stockings.  Likewise  he  hath  twoe  clokes,  th' 
one  of  vessey  collor  garded  with  twoe  gards  of  black 

clothe, 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  BROTHERS  STEPS.         167 

clothe,  and  twisted  in  law  of  carnacion  colour  and  lyned 
-with  crymsone  bayes,  and  th'  other  is  a  red  shipp  russet 
colour,  striped  about  the  cape,  and  downe  the  fore  face 
twisted  with  two  rows  of  twisted  lace,  russet  and  gold 
buttons  afore,  and  uppon  the  sholdier,  being  of  the  clothe 
itself  set  with  the  said  twisted  lace,  and   the  buttons  of 
russet  silke  and   golcle.      This  youthes  name  is   Gilbert 
Edwodd,    and    page    to   Sr.  Valentine    Browne,  Knight, 
who  is  run  awaye   this   fowerth   daye   of  Januarie,   with 
theis  parcels   followeing,    viz.   a    chaine    of  wyer  worke 
golde,  with  a  button  of  the  same,  and   a   small   ringe  of 
golde,  at  it  two  flagging   chaines  of  golde,  th'  one  being 
marked  with   theis   letters  v.  &  b.  upon   the  lock,  and  th' 
other  with  a  little  broken  Jewell   at  it,  one  carkanel  of 
pearle    and  jasynets   thereto    hangeing,  a  Jewell  like  a 
marimade  of  gold  enamelled  the  tayle  thereof  being  sett 
with  diamonds,  the  bellye  of  the  made  with  a  ruby,  and 
the  shilde   a  diamond,   the   cheine   of  golde   whereon   it 
hangeth  is  set  with  small  diamonds  and  rubyes   and  cer- 
teyne  money  in  golde  and  white  money. 

Burgldye  To  all  Constables,  Bayliffs  and 

Hunsdone  Hedboroughs,  and  to  all  other  the 

Warwick  Queen's  Officers  whatsoever,  to  whome 

Howarde  the  same  belongeth  and  appertayneth. 

VALENTINE  BROWNE. 


Account  of  an  extraordinary  Curiosity  called  the  BROTHERS 

STEPS. 


T 


HE  following  particulars  relative  to  this  very  singular 
phenomenon  are  given  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Thomas 
Smith,  to  Mr.  John  Warner,  of  London,  dated  July 
17th,  1778. 

"  The 


168  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    BROTHERS    STEPS. 

"  The  Brothers  Steps  are  situated  in  the  field,  about 
half  a  mile  from  Montague  House,  (now  the  British 
Museum)  in  a  north  direction.  The  prevailing  tradition 
concerning  them  is,  that  two  brothers  quarrelled  about  a 
worthless  woman,  and  as  it  was  the  fashion  of  those  days, 
as  it  is  now,  they  decided  their  dispute  by  a  duel.  The 
prints  of  their  feet  are  nearly  three  inches  in  depth,  and 
remain  totally  barren,  so  that  nothing  will  grow  to  dis- 
figure them.  Their  number  I  did  not  reckon,  but  suppose 
they  may  be  about  90.  A  bank  on  which  one  of  them 
fell  who  was  mortally  wounded,  and  died  on  the  spot, 
retains  the  form  of  his  agonizing  posture,  by  the  curse  of 
barrenness,  while  the  grass  grows  all  round  it.  A  friend 
of  mine  shewed  me  these  steps  in  the  year  1760,  when 
he  could  trace  them  back  by  old  people  to  the  year  1686  ; 
but  the  circumstance  was  generally  supposed  to  have 
happened  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 
There  are  people  now  living  who  well  remember  their 
being  ploughed  up,  and  barley  sown  to  deface  them  ;  but 
all  was  labour  in  vain  ;  for  the  prints  returned  in  a  short 
time  to  their  original  form.  There  is  one  thing  I  nearly 
forgot  to  mention  ;  that  a  place  on  the  bank  is  still  to  be 
seen  where  tradition  says,  the  wretched  woman  sat  to  see 
the  combat.  I  am  sorry  I  can  throw  no  more  light  on 
the  subject ;  but  am  convinced  in  my  own  opinion,  that 
the  Almighty  has  ordered  it  as  a  permanent  monument  of 
his  just  displeasure  against  the  horrid  sin  of  duelling.'' 

Since  the  period  in  which  the  above  account  was  writ- 
ten, these  steps  have  been  inclosed  from  public  view,  or 
nearly  built  over.  The  Bedford  Nursery  now  occupies  part 
of  the  field  ;  it  is  therefore  the  more  necessary  that  their 
existence  should  be  recorded,  to  prevent  their  memory 
from  perishing,  and  that  they  may  still  continue  to  serve 
as  a  warning  to  all  those  who  encourage  that  fatal  practice. 

Particulars 


[     169     ] 

Particulars  of  the  Life  of  that  extraordinary  Miser, 
Daniel  Dancer,  Esq. 
(With  a  Portrait.} 

JL/ANiEL  DANCER,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  instances 
of  the  insatiable  thirst  of  gold  recorded  in  the  history  of 
human  nature,  was  born  in  the  year  1716,  on  Harrow- 
weald  Common,  near  Harrow,  in  Middlesex.  His  father 
had  four  children,  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  of  whom 
Daniel  was  the  eldest.  His  youth  was  not  distinguished 
for  any  particular  passion  or  propensity,  and  it  was  not 
till  he  succeeded  to  the  property,  which  devolved  to  him 
by  the  death  of  his  father,  that  he  manifested  the  inordi- 
nate love  of  money,  which  rendered  him  miserable  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  sister,  whose  disposition 
exactly  corresponded  with  his  own,  continued  to  reside 
with  him  till  her  death. 

The  fare  of  this  saving  couple  was  invariably  the  same. 
They  used  constantly  on  a  Sunday  to  boil  a  sticking  of 
beef,  with  fourteen  hard  dumplings,  and  this  was  to  last 
during  the  whole  week.  No  consideration  could  induce 
them  to  alter  this  arrangement,  excepting  it  were  a  cir- 
cumstance like  the  following.  Mr.  Dancer  walking  out 
one  morning,  found  on  the  common  a  sheep,  which  had 
apparently  died  of  disease.  He  instantly  seized  the  pre- 
cious present  which  fortune  had  thrown  in  his  way,  car- 
ried home  the  carcase,  skinned  it  and  cut  it  up;  on  which 
his  sister  made  it  into  pies.  Whether  Mr.  Dancer  was 
delighted  at  thus  living  at  a  small  expence,  or  at  the 
change  of  diet  they  afforded,  he  expressed  a  great  par- 
tiality for  these  pies,  and  was  extremely  frugal  of  them 
while  they  lasted. 

Had  not  Miss  Dancer  lived  in  an  enlightened  age,  she 
would  most  certainly  have  run  the  risk  of  incurring  the 
penalties  inflicted  on  those  accused  of  witchcraft,  her 

Eccentric,   No.  IV.  z  appearance 


170  •     LIVE    OF    DANIEL    DANCER,    ESQ. 

appearance  so  perfectly  agreed  with  the  ideas  attached  to 
a  witch.  She  seldom  stirred  out  of  her  miserable  hut  ex- 
cept when  alarmed  hy  the  cries  of  huntsmen  and  hounds; 
on  such  occasions  she  used  to  sally  forth  armed  with  a 
pitch-fork,  with  which  she  endeavoured  to  repel  the  pro- 
gress of  these  intruders  on  her  brother's  grounds  ;  and  her 
appearance  was  rather  that  of  a  moving  mass  of  rags 
than  of  a  human  being. 

During  her  last  illness,  her  brother  was  frequently 
requested  to  procure  medical  assistance  for  her.  His 
reply  was,  "  Why  should  I  waste  my  money  in  wickedly 
endeavouring  to  counteract  the  will  of  Providence  ?  If 
the  old  girl's  time  is  come,  the  nostrums  of  all  the  quacks 
in  Christendom  cannot,  save  her;  and  she  may  as  well 
die  now  as  at  any  future  period."  The  only  food  he 
offered  her  during  her  indisposition  was  her  usual  allow- 
ance of  cold  dumpling,  and  sticking  of  beef,  accom- 
panied with  the  affectionate  declaration,  that  if  she  did 
not  like  it,  she  might  go  without.  The  kindness  of  Lady 
Tempest  and  Captain  Holmes,  who  inherited  the  whole 
of  Mr.  Dancer's  fortune,  made  ample  amends  for  her 
brother's  inhumanity,  and  soothed  her  dying  moments, 
In  consideration  of  her  tenderness,  Miss  Dancer  intended 
to  have  left  Lady  Tempest  the  property  she  possessed 
to  the  amount  of  20001.  She  however  expired  before  she 
had  signed  her  will,  which  she  had  directed  to  be  made, 
on  which  her  two  other  brothers  wished  to  divide  her  for- 
tune with  Daniel.  To  this  proposal  the  latter  refused  to 
accede,  and  a  lawsuit  ensued  ;  by  means  of  which  he  re- 
covered 10401.  of  his  sister's  property,  as  the  price  of  her 
board  for  thirty  years,  at  301.  per  annum,  and  1001.  for 
each  of  the  two  last  years,  in  which  he  declared  she  had 
done  nothing  but  eat  and  lie  in  bed.  What  remained 
after  these  deductions  was  equally  divided  among  the 
three  brothers. 

From 


LIFE    OF    DANIEL    DANCER,    ESQ.  171 

From  a  principle  of  rigid  economy,  Mr.  Dancer  rarely 
washed  his  hands  and  face ;  and  when  he  did,  it  was  always 
without  the  assistance  of  either  soap  or  towel.  Dispensing 
with  those  articles  of  expensive  luxury,  he  used  when  the 
sun  shone,  to  betake  himself  to  a  neighbouring  pool,  and 
after  washing  himself  with  sand,  he  would  lie  on  his 
back  in  the  sun  to  dry  himself.  His  tattered  garments, 
which  were  scarcely  sufficient  to  cover  his  nakedness, 
were  kept  together  by  a  strong  hay-band,  which  he 
fastened  round  his  body.  His  stockings  were  so  patched 
that  not  a  vestige  of  the  original  could  be  perceived,  and 
in  cold  or  dirty  weather  he  wound  about  his  legs  ropes  of 
hay,  so  that  his  whole  figure  presented  the  most  striking- 
picture  of  misery  that  can  possibly  be  conceived. 

At  one  period  of  his  life,  he  used  annually  to  purchase 
two  shirts,  but  for  several  years  preceding  his  death,  he 
allowed  himself  only  one.  This  he  bought  at  some  old 
clothes  shop,  and  seldom  exceeded  half  a  crown  in 
price.  After  coming  into  his  possession,  it  never  under- 
went the  operations  of  washing  or  mending,  nor  did  he 
ever  change  it  till  it  dropped  from  his  back  in  rags.  In 
making  one  of  these  purchases,  he  was  involved  in  an 
affair  which  gave  him  no  small  trouble  and  uneasiness. 
Being  desired  by  the  mistress  of  the  shop  to  which  he  went 
to  purchase  an  old  shirt,  to  mention  his  price,  he  told 
her  "  as  much  under  three  shillings  as  possible."  A 
shirt  was  accordingly  produced,  for  which,  after  bargain- 
ing a  long  time,  Dancer  as  he  declared,  agreed  to  give 
two  shillings  and  ninepence.  He  gave  the  woman  three 
shilling?,  and  waited  for  the  change,  but  to  his  mortifi- 
cation and  surprise,  she  refused  to  give  any,  positively 
asserting,  that  he  had  agreed  to  take  the  shirt  at  the 
price  of  the  sum  she  had  received.  Remonstrances  were 
vain,  and  to  suffer  such  a  diminution  of  his  property 
without  endeavouring  to  obtain  redress,  he  regarded  as 

z  2  criminal 


172  LIFE    OF    DANIEL    DANCER,    ESQ. 

criminal.  He  therefore  summoned  the  woman  to  a 
court  of  conscience,  and  to  support  his  claim  made  two 
journies  to  town  :  but  after  a  full  hearing,  the  poor  man 
was  not  only  non-suited,  but  obliged  to  pay  the  costs  of 
the  court  to  the  enormous  amount  of  five  shillings.  To 
add  to  his  vexation,  his  two  journies  had  put  him  to  the 
additional  expence  of  three  pence  more  :  for  it  can 
scarcely  be  supposed  that  a  man  of  his  age  and  wealth 
could  travel  on  foot  fifteen  miles,  and  back  again  on  the 
same  day,  without  ihe  extraordinary  indulgence  of  a 
penny-worth  of  bread  and  cheese,  and  a  half-penny-worth 
of  small  beer.  At  this  time  Mr.  Dancer  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  property  to  the  amount  of  30001.  a-year ! 

When  his  sister  died,  he  had  a  pair  of  sheets  on  his 
bed,  which  he  would  never  suffer  to  be  removed  :  but  lay 
in  them  till  they  were  worn  out.  He  would  not  allow 
his  bed  to  be  made,  or  his  house  to  be  cleaned,  and  the 
room  in  which  he  lived  was  nearly  filled  with  sticks  he 
had  collected  from  his  neighbour's  hedges.  He  was  for 
many  years  his  own  cobler,  and  the  last  pair  of  shoes  he 
wore  had  become  so  large  and  ponderous  from  the  fre- 
quent soles  and  coverings  they  had  received,  that  they 
rather  resembled  hog-troughs  than  shoes. 

Such  was  his  attention  to  parsimony  in  every  thing 
that  could  in  the  smallest  degree  contribute  to  his  advan- 
tage, that  when  obliged  to  relieve  the  wants  of  nature, 
he  would  rather  walk  two  miles  than  not  assist  in  manuring 
his  own  lands.  He  gathered  in  his  rambles  all  the  bones 
lie  met  with,  and  rather  than  return  home  empty-handed, 
he  would  load  himself  with  the  dung  of  the  cattle  on  the 
common.  The  bones  he  first  picked  himself,  and  then 
broke  in  pieces  for  his  dog  J3ob.  His  conduct  to  this 
favorite,  whom  he  always  called  "  Bob  my  child,"  af- 
fords a  striking  instance  of  human  inconsistency  ;  for 
while  he  himself  would  swill  the  pot-liquor  of  Lady 

Tempest's 


LIFE    OF    DANIEL    DANCER,    ESQ.  1 73 

Tempest's  kitchen,  to  save  the  expence  of  a  penny,  Bob 
was  allowed  a  pint  of  milk  daily.  His  affection  for  this 
domestic  was  nevertheless,  overpowered  by  a  considera- 
tion, which  with  him,  carried  irresistible  weight.  Com- 
plaints were  made  to  him  that  Bob  had  worried  some  sheep; 
on  this,  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  mischief,  for  which 
he  might  probably  have  been  compelled  to  make  com- 
pensation, he  took  the  dog  to  a  blacksmith's  shop,  where 
he  ordered  all  his  teeth  to  be  broken  off  short. 

Snuff  was  a  luxury  in  which  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
that  he  never  indulged ;  yet  he  always  begged  a  pinch 
from  those  who  did.  In  this  manner  he  used  in  about  a 
month  to  fill  a  snuff-box,  which  he  always  carried  in  his 
pocket.  He  then  exchanged  its  contents  at  a  chandler's 
shop  for  a  farthing  candle,  which  was  made  to  last  till 
he  had  again  filled  his  box,  as  he  never  suffered  any 
light  in  his  house  except  when  he  was  going  to  bed. — A 
horse  which  he  kept  for  some  time  was  never  allowed 
more  than  two  shoes,  for  his  fore-feet;  to  shoe  the  hind 
feet  being,  in  his  opinion,  an  unnecessary  expence. 

As  it  was  rumoured  that  Mr.  Dancer  had  considerable 
sums  of  money  concealed  in  his  house,  a  man  hoping  to 
discover  the  deposit,  broke  in  and  carried  off  some  of 
his  effects,  He  was  disappointed  in  his  grand  object ; 
for  Mr.  Dancer  concealed  his  treasure  where  no  person 
would  ever  think  of  seeking  it :  bank  notes  he  used  to 
hide  amono1  the  cob-webs  in  the  cow-house,  and  guineas 

O  C 

iu  the  fire-place  covered  with  soot.      The  thief  was  soon 
afterwards  apprehended  and  executed. 

This  accident  probably  made  some  impression,  and 
rendered  him  desirous  of  placing  his  money  in  a  more 
secure  situation  than  his  own  wretched  hut.  Repairing 
not  long  after  to  London,  to  invest  two  thousand  pounds 
in  the  funds,  a  gentleman  who  met  him  near  the  Ex- 
change, mistaking  him  for  a  beggar,  put  a  penny  into 

his 


174  LIFE    OF    DANIEL    DANCER,  ESQ. 

his  hand.  Though  somewhat  surprized  at  first,  he  put, 
the  money  in  his  pocket,  and  continued  his  walk. 

Lady  Tempest,  who  was  the  only  person  that  had  any 
influence  over  the  mind  of  this  unhappy  man,  employed 
every  possible  persuasion  and  device  to  induce  him  to 
partake  of  those  conveniences  and  comforts  which  are 
so  gratifying  to  others,  but  without  effect.  One  day  she, 
however,  prevailed  on  him  to  purchase  a  hat  of  a  Jew 
for  a  shilling,  that  which  he  wore  having  been  in  con- 
stant use  for  thirteen  years.  She  called  upon  him  the 
next  day,  and  to  her  surprize  found  that  he  still  conti- 
nued to  wear  the  old  one.  On  enquiring  the  reason,  he 
after  much  solicitation  informed  her,  that  his  old  servant 
Griffiths,  had  given  him  sixpence  profit  for  his  bargain. 

The  same  lady,  knowing  that  he  was  fond  of  trout 
stewed  in  claret,  once  sent  him  some  as  a  present.  The 
stew  had  become  congealed  during  the  night,  and  though 
he  durst  not  eat  it  till  it  was  warmed  for  fear  of  the 
tooth-ache,  to  which  he  was  subject,  yet  he  could  not  on 
any  account  afford  the  expence  of  a  fire.  The  inge- 
nious method,  by  which  he  contrived  to  relieve 
himself  from  this  embarassment,  is  certainly  worthy 
of  admiration.  The  weather  was  frosty,  and  at  such 
times  he  always  lay  in  bed  to  keep  himself  warm,  and  he 
conceived  that  a  similar  mode  of  proceeding  would  pro- 
duce the  same  effect  on  the  fish.  He  accordingly  di- 
rected it  to  be  put  with  the  sauce  into  a  pewter  plate, 
and  covering  it  with  another,  placed  them  under  his 
body,  and  sat  upon  them  till  the  contents  were  suffi- 
ciently warmed  ! 

During  the  illness  which  terminated  his  mispent  life, 
Lady  Tempest  accidentally  calling  upon  him,  found  him 
lying  in  an  old  sack  which  came  up  to  his  neck.  To  her 
remonstrances  against  the  impropriety  of  such  a  situa- 
tion, he  replied,  that  having  come  into  the  world  with- 
out 


ECCENTRIC    GLEANINGS. 

out  a  shirt,  he  was  determined  to  go  out  of  it  in  the  same 
manner.  She  then  begged  him  to  have  a  pillow  to  raise 
his  head,  which  he  refused,  but  directed  his  old  servant, 
Griffiths,  to  bring  him  a  truss  of  straw  for  that  purpose. 

Thus  expired  this  miserable  man,  in  the  month  of  Oc- 
tober 1794,  in  the  78th  year  of  his  age. 

The  house  in  which  Mr.  Dancer  had  lived,  was  in  a 
most  deplorable  state,  not  having  been  repaired  for  up- 
wards of  half  a  century.  Its  interior  was,  however,  soon 
found  to  contain  more  riches  than  its  external  appear- 
ance bespoke  ;  for  Captain  Holmes,  to  whom  it  devolved, 
found  at  different  times  various  hoards  of  guineas  and 
half  guineas,  in  bowls  ;  and  bank  notes  stuffed  under  the 
covers  of  old  chairs.  Some  jugs  of  silver  were  also  dis- 
covered in  the  stable,  to  which  place  Mr.  Dancer  often 
went  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  but  for  what  purpose 
could  never  be  ascertained  ;  but  it  has  since  been  sup- 
posed it  was  to  rob  one  of  the  jugs,  in  order  to  add  to  a 
bowl  which  he  had  buried  in  the  kitchen. 

Lady  Tempest,  who  with  Captain  Holmes,  inherited 
the  whole  of  his  property,  did  not  long  enjoy  the  in- 
crease of  wealth  she  acquired  by  Mr.  Dancer's  death. 
During  her  attendance  on  him  in  his  last  hours,  she  con- 
tracted an  illness,  which  in  a  few  months  put  a  period  to 
her  own  life  in  January  1795. 


ECCENTRIC  GLEANINGS. 

TO    THE    EDITOR    OF    THE    ECCENTRIC    MUSEUM. 

SIR, 

I  have  transmitted  you  a  few  eccentric  particulars  extracted  from  va- 
rious manuscripts  and  other  papers,  and  which  in  my  opinion  are  wor- 
thy of  being  preserved.  If  your  opinion  coincide  with  mine,  your  insertion 
of  them  under  the  title  prefixed,  will  oblige 

Your  constant  Render, 
D.  B.   L. 
\<'ttin»ham,  Feb.  1806. 

SINGULAR 


[     176     ] 

SINGULAR  CHARACTERS. 

_L>ARBARA  SNELGROVE,  more  generally  known  by  the 
appellation  of  Granny  Bab,  died  on  the  2d  of  January, 
1794,  at  Barnstaple,  in  Devonshire,  in  her  96th  year. 
Till  within  a  few  days  of  her  death  she  was  able  to  walk 
to  and  from  the  seat  of  Lord  Fortescue,  near  12  miles 
from  Barnstaple.  She  had  been,  and  continued  till  she 
was  upwards  of  94,  the  most  rioted  poacher  in  that  part 
of  the  country,  and  frequently  boasted  of  selling  to 
gentlemen  fish  taken  out  of  their  own  ponds.  Her  coffin 
and  shroud  she  had  purchased  and  kept  in  her  apartmen 
more  than  twenty  years. 

Simeon  Ellerton,  died  January  3d,  1?99,  at  Craike, 
in  the  county  of  Durham,  at  the  advanced  age  of  104. 
He  was  a  rioted  pedestrian,  and  was  often  employed  by 
gentlemen  in  the  neighbourhood,  on  commissions  to 
London,  and  other  places,  which  he  always  executed  on 
foot,  with  fidelity  and  diligence.  He  lived  in  a  neat 
stone  cottage,  of  his  own  building ;  and  what  is  remark- 
able, he  had  literally  carried  it  upon  his  head  :  it  being 
his  practice  to  bring  home  from  every  journey,  the  most 
proper  stone  he  could  pick  up  on  the  road,  until  he  had 
accumulated  a  sufficient  quantity  to  erect  his  habitation  ; 
by  which  time,  although  the  motive  ceased,  this  practice 
had  grown  so  much  into  habit,  that  he  imagined  he  could 
travel  the  better  for  having  a  weight  upon  his  head,  and 
he  seldom  came  home  without  some  loading. — If  any 
person  enquired  his  reason,  he  used  facetiously  to  answer — 
"  Tis  to  keep  my  hat  on." 

EXTRAORDINARY  BURIALS. — The  late  Mr.  Lanyford 
of  Balsover,  Derbyshire,  amongst  other  eccentric  pro- 
visions in  his  will,  left  three,  sMUirtf/s  per  week  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  favorite  little  dog  ;  with  an  express 
desire,  that  on  the  day  of  his  interment,  it  might  be 

clothed 


REMARKABLE    FUNERALS.  177 

clothed  with  a  sable  mantle,  and  attend  his  remains  as 
one  of  the  chief  mourners,  which  was  accordingly  done 
with  the  greatest  pomp  and  solemnity. 

WILLS. — In  July  1751,  were  interred,  the  coffin  and 
remains  of  a  Farmer  Stevenage,  in  Hertfordshire,  who 
died  Feb.  1,  1720,  and  ordered  by  will,  that  his  estate 
which  was  4001.  a  year,  should  be  enjoyed  by  his  brothers, 
who  were  clergymen,  and  if  they  should  die,  by  his 
nephew,  till  the  expiration  of  thirty  years,  when  he  sup- 
posed he  should  return  to  life,  and  then  it  was  to  revert  to 
him  :  He  also  ordered  his  coffin  to  be  affixed  on  a  beam 
in  his  barn,  locked,  and  the  key  enclosed,  that  he  might 
let  himself  out.  They  staid  four  days  more  than  the  time 
limited,  and  then  interred  him. 

In  March  17.51,  died,  Mr.  Francis  Humphry  Merrides, 
u  sea  officer  ;  he  ordered  by  will,  that  his  body  should  be 
put  into  a  leaden  coffin,  soldered  down,  and  then  buried 
in  the  Goodwin  Sands,  and  on  the  16th  of  May  of  the  same 
year,  the  coffin  with  his  remains  was  taken  up  floating 
on  the  waves  by  a  Hamburgher,  though  the  inner  coffin 
of  lead,  in  which  the  body  was  deposited,  weighed  7001bs. 

The  following  curious  entry  is  inserted  in  the  register 
of  Lymington  church,  Hampshire,  under  the  year  1736; 
"  Samuel  Baldwin,  Esq.  sojourner  in  this  parish,  was 
immersed  witbout  the  Needles  in  Scratchall  Bay,  sans 
ceremonie,  May  20." — This  was  performed  in  consequence 
of  an  earnest  wish  he  had  expressed  to  that  effect  a  little 
before  his  dissolution.  And  what  reason  dost  thou  think, 
reader,  could  induce  him  to  have  his  body  cast  into  the 
ocean  rather  than  quietly  committed  to  the  earth.  No 
motive  of  erring  superstition — no  whim  of  bewildered 
reason,  but  a  determination  to  disappoint  the  intention 
of  an  affectionate  wife,  who  had  repeatedly  assured  him 
in  their  domestic  quarrels,  which  were  very  frequent,  that 

Eccentric,   No.  IV.  A  A  if 


178  SINGULAR    TENURES. 

if  Providence  permitted  her  to  survive  him,  she  would 
avenge  her  conjugal  sufferings,  by  occasionally  dancing 
on  the  turf  that  covered  his  remains. 

On  Tuesday,  November  20,  1796,  was  buried  at  Bar- 
row, near  Wenlock,  Shropshire,  Mr.  Thomas  Moody, 
the  well  known  whipper-in  to  G.  Forester,  Esquire's  fox 
hounds  for  thirty  years.  He  had  every  sporting  honour 
paid  to  his  memory.  He  was  carried  to  his  grave  by  a 
number  of  old  earth-stoppers,  and  attended  by  many  other 
sporting  friends,  who  heartily  mourned  for  him;  directly 
after  the  corpse  followed  his  old  favourite  horse  (which  he 
used  always  to  call  his  Old  Soul),  thus  accoutred,  carrying 
his  last  fox's  brush  in  front  of  his  bridle,  with  his  cap,  his 
whip,  his  boots,  spurs,  and  girdle  across  his  saddle.  The 
ceremony  being  over,  he  (by  his  own  desire)  had  three 
clear  rattling  view  halloos,  given  him  over  the  grave,  and 
thus  ended  the  career  of  poor  Tom. 


SINGULAR  TENURES,  l)ij  u-hich  many  Estates  are  held  in 
this  kingdom. 


T 


BERK-HOLT. —  County  of  Suffolk. 

^ 


HE  men  of  Berk-holt,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  say, 
that  in  the  time  of  King  Henry,  grandfather  of  our  Lord 
the  present  king  (Henry  III.)  they  used  to  have  this  cus- 
tom ;  that  when  they  would  marry  their  daughters,  they 
used  to  give  to  the  lord  for  license  so  to  do,  two  ores, 
which  were  worth  thirty-two  pence.  These  ores  (which 
were  Saxon  coins)  are  declared  to  be  in  value  of  our  money 
sixteen  pence  a-piece;  but  after  by  the  variation  of  the 
standard,  they  valued  twenty  pence  a-piece.  And  this 

fine 


SINGULAR  TENURES.  179 

line  for  the  tenants  marrying  their  daughters  (pro 
filiabus  suis  maritandis)  was,  without  doubt,  in  lieu 
of  the  marchetta  mulierum,  or  first  night's  lodging  with 
the  bride,  which  the  lord  anciently  claimed  in  some 
manors. 

The  term  marcheta,  which  has  given  occasion  to  that 
fiction  of  folly  in  the  best  histories  of  Scotland,  that  the 
lord  had  a  privilege  to  sleep  with  the  bride  of  his  vassal, 
on  her  wedding  night ;  which  has  been  explained  by  de- 
rivations equally  obscene  and  stupid,  is  apparently  nothing 
more  than  the  Merch-edof.  Howel-Dha,  the  Daughterhood, 
or  the  fine  for  the  marriage  of  a  daughter. 

On  this  subject,  Blackstonein  his  Commentaries,  2  vol. 
p.  83,  speaks  as  follows:  To  lands  called  Borough  Eng- 
lish, the  youngest  son,  and  not  the  eldest,  succeeds  as  heir 
to  the  father.  For  which  Littleton  gives  this  reason  ;  be- 
cause the  younger  son,  by  reason  of  his  tender  age,  is  not  so 
capable  as  the  rest  of  his  brethren  to  help  himself.  Other 
authors,  have  indeed,  given  a  much  stranger  reason  for 
this  custom,  as  if  the  lord  of  the  fee  had  anciently  a  right 
of  concubinage  with  his  tenant's  wife  on  her  wedding 
night ;  and  that  therefore  the  tenement  descended  not  to 
the  eldest,  but  the  youngest  son  ;  who  was  more  certainly 
the  offspring  of  the  tenant.  But  I  cannot  learn  that  ever 
this  custom  prevailed  in  England,  though  it  certainly  did 
in  Scotland  (under  the  name  of  marcheta  or  marcheto)  till 
abolished  by  Malcolm  III. 

COPERLAND  and  ATTERTOX. — County  of  Kent. 

Solomon  Attefeld  held  land  at  Kepperland  and  Atter- 
ton,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  that  as  often  as  our  lord  the 
king  would  cross  the  sea,  the  said  Solomon  and  his  heirs 
ought  to  go  along  with  him,  to  hold  his  head  on  the  sea, 
if  it  was  needful. 

AA2  CHETTINGTON. 


180  SINGULAR    TENURES. 

CHETTINGTON.  —  County  of  Salop. 

Roger  Corbet  holds  the  manor  of  Chettington,  in  the 
county  of  Salop,  of  the  king  in  capite,  by  the  service  of 
finding  one  footman  in  time  of  war,  in  the  king's  army 
in  Wales,  with  one  bow  and  three  arrows,  and  one  pale, 
and  carrying  with  him  one  bacon  or  salted  hog;  and 
when  he  comes  to  the  army  delivering  to  the  king's 
marshal  a  moiety  of  the  bacon :  and  thence  the  marshal 
was  to  deliver  to  him  daily,  some  of  that  moiety  for  his 
dinner,  so  long  as  he  stayed  in  the  army  ;  and  he  was  to 
follow  the  army  so  long  as  that  half  of  the  bacon  should 
last. 

CARLTON. —  County  of  Norfolk. 

Eustace  de  Corson,  Thomas  de  Berkedich,  and  Robert 
de  Wethen,  hold  thirty  acres  of  land  in  the  town  of 
Carlton,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  in  the  serjeanty  of 
carrying  to  our  lord  the  king,  wheresoever  he  should  bo 
in  England,  twenty-four  pasties  of  fresh  herrings  at  their 
first  coming  in. 

CONINGSTON. —  County  of  Leicester. 

Thomas  Winchard  held  land  in  Coningstori,  in  the 
county  of  Leicester,  in  capite,  by  the  service  of  saying 
daily  jive  Pater-Nosters  and_/zre  Ave-Marias,  for  the  souls 
of  the  king's  progenitors,  and  the  souls  of  all  the  faithful 
departed,  for  all  services. 

EAST  and  WEST  ENBORNE. —  County  of  Berks. 
The  manors  of  East  and  West  Enborne,  in  the  county 
of  Berks,  have  this  custom  ;  that  if  a  copyhold  tenant 
die,  the  widow  shall  have  her  free  bench  in  all  his  copy- 
hold lands,  whilst  she  continues  sole  and  chaste  (dum 
sola  est  casta  fuerit] ;  but  if  she  commits  incontinency, 
she  forfeits  her  widow's  estate ;  yet,  after  this,  if  she 
comes  into  the  next  court  held  for  the  manor,  riding 

backward 


LOSS  OF  THE  ABERGAVENNY  INDIAMAN. 

backward  upon  a  black  ram,  with  his  tail  in  her  hand,  and 
says  the  words  following,  the  steward  is  bound  by  the 
custom  to  re-admit  her  to  her  free-bench,  being  that  estate 
in  copyhold  lands,  which  the  wife,  being  espoused  a  virgin, 
hath  after  the  death  of  her  husband  for  her  dower,  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  the  manor,  &c. 

"  Here  I  am, 

"  Riding  upon  a  black  ram, 

"  Like  a  Whore  as  I  am  ; 

"  And  for  my  Crincum  Crancum, 

"  Have  lost  my  Bincurn  Bancum  ; 

"  And  for  my  Tail's  Game, 

"  Am  brought  to  this  worldly  shame  ; 

"  Therefore  good  Mr.  Steward  let  me  have  my 

"  Lands  again-f." 

t  This  is  the  subject  of  an  amusing  number  (623J  in  the  Spectator. 


Account  of  tke  melancholy  Loss  of  the  EARL  of  ABERGA- 
VENNY EAST  INDIAMAN,  together  with  upwards  of  two 
hundred  and  sixty  of  her  crew. 

JL  EW  events  have  recently  occurred  of  a  more  distress- 
ing nature  than  the  loss  of  the  Earl  of  Abergavenny,  and 
that  the  melancholy  catastrophe  should  have  happened 
on  our  own  coast,  renders  the  affliction  of  the  relatives 
of  the  unfortunate  sufferers,  if  possible,  still  more  poig- 
nant. She  was  wrecked  nearly  on  the  same  spot  where 
an  accident  equally  fatal,  some  years  since  befel  the 
Halsewell.  The  following  narrative  of  the  circumstances 
of  this  disaster,  are  collected  from  the  most  authentic 
sources. 

On  the  1st  of  February  1805,  the  Abergavenny,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Wordsworth,  sailed  from  Ports- 
mouth in  company  with  four  other  vessels  for  the 

East 


182  LOSS  OF  THE  ABERGAVENNY  INDIAMAN. 

East  Indies.  The  weather  proving  unfavourable,  and 
with  a  strong  contrary  wind,  they  made  the  best  of  their 
way  for  Portland  Roads.  In  consequence  of  the  severe 
gales  they  experienced,  it  was  not  till  the  5th  at  noon 
that  they  reached  the  entrance  of  the  roads,  when  the 
Commodore  made  the  signal  for  those  ships  which  had 
pilots  on  board,  to  run  for  the  port.  The  Abergavenny 
not  having  any,  was  obliged  to  wait  three  hours  till  a 
pilot  arrived,  on  which  she  likewise  bore  up  for  the 
Roads.  The  weather  had  become  tolerably  moderate, 
and  notwithstanding  a  strong  ebb-tide  was  setting  in,  no 
disaster  was  at  this  time  apprehended.  In  a  few  minutes, 
however,  the  ship  struck  on  the  shambles  of  the  Bill  of 
Portland,  about  two  miles  from  the  shore.  Capt.  Words- 
worth, and  his  officers  imagined  that  the  ship  might  be 
got  off  without  sustaining  any  material  damage,  and  ac- 
cordingly no  signal  guns  of  distress  were  ordered  to  be 
fired  for  upwards  of  an  hour  and  a  half,  when  twenty 
were  discharged.  All  this  time  the  people  were  free  from 
alarm,  and  no  idea  prevailed  that  it  would  be  necessary 
to  hoist  out  the  boasts.  About  five  in  the  evening  things 
bore  a  still  more  unfavourable  aspect ;  the  carpenter  an- 
nounced that  a  considerable  leak  was  discovered  near  the 
bottom  of  the  chain  pumps,  which  it  was  not  in  his 
power  to  stop.  The  pumps  being  all  in  readiness,  were 
set  a  going,  and  a  part  of  the  crew  endeavoured  to  bale 
at  the  fore-hatch,  but  all  their  attempts  to  keep  the  water 
under,  were  in  vain. 

At  six  the  inevitable  loss  of  the  ship  became  more  and 
more  apparent ;  other  leaks  were  discovered,  the  wind 
had  increased  to  a  gale,  and  the  severe  beating  of  the 
vessel  upon  the  rocks,  threatened  immediate  destruc- 
tion. The  Captain  and  officers  were  far  from  shrink- 
ing from  the  perils  around  them.  They  gave  their 
orders  with  the  greatest  firmness  and  coolness,  and  by 

their 


LOSS    OF    THE    ABERGAVENNY    INDIAMAN.  183 

their  proper  conduct  were  enabled  to  preserve  subordina- 
tion. As  the  night  advanced,  the  situation  of  all  on 
board  became  the  more  terrible;  the  Misses  Evans,  and 
several  other  passengers,  entreated  to  be  sent  on  shore ; 
but  this  was  impossible.  It  was  as  much  as  all  the  ship's 
company  could  do  to  keep  the  vessel  afloat.  In  order  to 
tempt  the  men  to  exert  their  utmost  powers  at  the  pumps, 
the  officers  stood  by  cheering  them,  and  encouraging 
them,  by  giving  them  allowances  of  liquor.  At  seven  the 
ship's  company  being  almost  exhausted,  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  fire  fresh  signal  guns,  in  hopes  of  obtaining 
boats  from  the  shore. 

One  boat  came  off  from  the  shore,  which  took  on  board 
the  Misses  Evans,  Miss  Jackson,  Mr.  Rutledge,  and  Mr. 
Taylor,  a  cadet,  all  passengers.  Mrs.  Blair,  companion 
to  Misses  Evans,  chose,  in  spite  of  all  entreaties,  to  re- 
main on  board  :  indeed,  there  were  many  who  would 
have  made  the  same  choice,  so  little  hope  was  there  of  the 
boat  contending  successfully  against  the  high  sea  in  so 
dark  a  night. 

It  was  now  about  nine  o'clock,  and  several  boats  were 
heard  at  a  short  distance  from  the  ship,  but  they  rendered 
no  assistance  to  the  distressed  on  board.  The  dreadful 
crisis  now  approaching — every  one  on  board  seemed 
assured  of  his  fate.  At  ten  the  ship  was  nearly  full  of 
water,  and  as  she  began  gradually  to  sink,  confusion 
commenced  on  board.  A  number  of  sailors  begged  for 
more  liquor,  and  when  it  was  refused  they  attacked  the 
spirit-room,  but  were  repulsed  by  the  officers,  who  never 
once  lost  sio-ht  of  their  character,  and  continued  to  con- 

O  7 

duct  themselves  with  the  utmost  fortitude.  One  of  them 
was  stationed  at  the  spirit-room  door,  with  a  brace  of 
pistols,  to  guard  against  surprise,  and  there  remained 
even  whilst  the  ship  was  sinking.  A  sailor  was  extremely 
solicitous  to  obtain  some  liquor,  saying,  "  It  will  be  all 

one 


184  LOSS    OF    THE    ABERGAVENNY    INDIAMAN. 

one  an  hour  hence." — "  Be  that  as  it  may,"  replied  the 
office)',  "  let  us  die  like  men."  It  is  a  circumstance  hardly 
to  be  accounted  for,  that  in  the  midst  of  all  this  distress, 
the  boats  were  never  attempted  to  be  hoisted  out. 

When  the  passengers  and  crew  were  acquainted  with 
their  situation,  they  made  several  efforts  to  save  their 
lives ;  some  laid  hold  of  pieces  of  the  wreck,  and  com- 
mitted themselves  to  the  mercy  of  the  waves.  Mr.  Forbes, 
one  of  the  cadets,  stripped  off  his  clothes,  and  being 
an  excellent  swimmer,  plunged  into  the  sea,  and  was 
one  of  those  who  was  picked  up  by  a  boat  from  the 
shore.  A  great  number  ran  up  the  shrouds.  About 
eleven  a  heavy  sea  gave  the  vessel  a  sudden  shock,  and 
in  an  instant  she  sunk  to  the  bottom,  in  twelve  fathoms 
water.  Many  of  the  unfortunate  persons  who  had  run 
up  the  shrouds  for  safety,  were  unable  to  sustain  the  mo- 
tion of  the  vessel  in  going  down,  and  suffered  with  their 
unfortunate  companions  below.  Between  eighty  and 
ninety  persons,  however,  were  still  able  to  maintain  their 
situation,  and  were  ultimately  saved.  For  some  time 
after  the  vessel  had  gone  down,  she  kept  gradually  sink- 
ing deeper  in  the  sand,  so  that  several  persons  were  under 
the  necessity  of  climbing  higher  up  the  masts.  The 
highest  mast  was  estimated  to  be  above  the  water  about 
twenty-five  feet,  and  the  persons  aloft  could  plainly  dis- 
cover the  end  of  the  bowsprit. 

When  she  sunk,  she  did  not  go  down  in  the  usual 
way  that  vessels  do,  by  falling  first  upon  her  beam  ends  ; 
this  deviation  was  supposed  to  have  arisen  from  her  being 
laden  with  treasure  and  porcelain  ware. 

Several  boats  were  heard  paddling  about  the  wreck, 
at  half-past  eleven,  and  although  they  were  hailed  by 
the  unfortunate  persons  on  the  shrouds  and  masts,  they 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  take  them  on  shore.  The 
reason  which  was  afterwards  assigned  for  this  apparently 

inhuman 


LOSS    OF    THE    ABERGAVENNY    INDIAMAN.  185 

inhuman  conduct,  was,  that  they  were  fearful  that  every 
person  on  board,  being  eager  to  save  himself,  the  whole 
would  attempt  to  jump  in,  overload  the  boats,  and  sink 
them.  The  cause  which  produced  this  apprehension  is 
too  singular  to  be  omitted.  Cornet  Burgoyne  perceiving 
that  the  spirits  of  his  fellow-sufferers  began  to  droop, 
cheered  them  with  a  song  adapted  to  their  situation,  on 
which  they  all  joined  in  the  chorus ;  and  the  crew  of  the 
boats  alarmed  at  what  they  conceived  such  ill-timed 
merriment,  concluded  that  it  could  only  be  the  consequence 
of  desperation. 

About  twelve  o'clock,  a  sloop  that  had  been  attracted 
to  the  spot  by  the  signal  guns,  came  to  anchor  close  to 
the  ship,  sent  a  boat,  and  took  off  all  the  persons  that 
were  above  water,  about  twenty  at  a  time,  and  conveyed 
them  to  Wey mouth.  So  far  were  the  people  from 
crowding  improperly  into  the  boat,  that  they  got  off  the 
shrouds  one  by  one,  and  then  only  as  they  were  called 
by  the  officers  who  were  with  them.  When  the  boat  was 
about  to  depart  for  the  last  time,  a  person  was  observed 
nearly  at  the  top  of  a  mast  in  the  shrouds.  He  was  called 
to  but  made  no  answer,  on  which  Mr.  Mortimer  the 
sixth  mate,  insisted  that  the  boat  should  not  put  off  till 
he  had  attempted  to  rescue  the  unfortunate  man.  The 
generous  youth  immediately  ascended  the  mast,  and 
found  that  the  object  of  his  compassion  was  Serjeant 
Heart,  of  the  22d  regiment,  whose  wife  and  infant  had 
already  perished.  Mr.  Mortimer  brought  him  down  on 
his  back  in  a  state  of  total  insensibility,  from  the  incle- 
mency of  the  weather.  On  their  arrival  at  Weymouth, 
the  utmost  exertions  were  used  to  recover  him,  and  though 
they  so  far  succeeded  as  to  renew  pulsation,  and  to  enable 
him  to  take  some  wine,  he  expired  the  same  day. 

The  sloop  that  came  from  the  shore,  after  having 
taken  most  of  the  people  from  the  tops,  was  scudding 

Eccentric*  No.  IV.  B  B  with 


186  LOSS    OF    THE    ABERGAVENNY    INDIAMAN. 

with  all  the  sail  she  could  carry  for  the  shore,  when  Mr. 
Baggot,  the  chief  officer  of  the  Earl  of  Ahergavenny, 
was  discovered  close  astern  of  the  ship.  The  sloop  im- 
mediately lay  to  for  him  ;  but  this  noble  spirited  young 
man,  although  he  had  a  rope  in  his  hand,  quitted  his 
hold,  and  disregarding  his  own  safety,  plunged  after 
Mrs.  Blair,  whom  he  perceived  floating  at  some  distance. 
He  succeeded  in  coming  up  with  her,  and  sustained  her 
above  water,  while  he  swam  towards  the  sloop  ;  but  just 
as  he  was  on  the  point  of  reaching  it,  a  terrible  swell 
came  on,  and  his  strength  being  totally  exhausted,  he 
sunk  and  never  rose.  The  unfortunate  Mrs.  Blair  sunk 
after  him,  and  this  generous  youth  thus  perished  in  vain. 

One  of  the  crew,  a  Yorkshireman,  had  ascended  a  to- 
lerable height  up  one  of  the  masts,  when  his  farther 
exertions  were  rendered  ineffectual  by  one  of  his  messmates 
who  had  seized  him  by  the  legs.  All  remonstrances  to 
induce  him  to  quit  his  hold  being  in  vain,  the  principle 
of  self-preservation  overcame  that  of  humanity ;  the 
Yorkshireman  took  his  knife  from  his  pocket,  and  cut 
the  fingers  of  his  comrade,  who  fell  and  was  dashed  to 
pieces.  A  singular  accident  likewise  happened  to  a 
Serjeant  who  survived  the  fatal  catastrophe.  His  wife, 
who  was  with  him  in  the  shrouds,  in  the  last  struggle  for 
life,  as  she  was  quitting  her  hold,  bit  a  large  piece  out 
of  the  arm  of  her  husband.  William  Ivers,  a  seaman, 
and  two  other  persons,  escaped  by  lashing  themselves  to  a 
hen-coop. 

Captain  Wordsworth,  at  the  moment  the  ship  was 
going  down,  was  seen  clinging  to  the  ropes.  Mr.  Gilpin 
tne  fourth  mate  used  every  persuasion  to  induce  him  to 
endeavour  to  save  his  life,  but  in  vain,  and  he  seemed 
determined  not  to  survive  the  loss  of  his  ship.  He  was 
a  man  of  remarkably  mild  manners,  and  of  a  cool  and 
temperate  disposition.  Mr.  Baggott  the  first  mate  pos- 
sessed 


HEROISM    OF    AN    ENGLISH    CAPTAIN.  187 

sessed  a  similar  character.  He,  with  the  third  mate,  a 
cadet,  and  Ensign  Whitlow,  of  the  22d  regiment,  son  of 
Mr.  Whitlow,  postmaster  of  Portsmouth,  were  on  shore 
at  the  time  the  vessel  sailed  from  that  place,  and  paid 
forty  guineas  for  a  boat  which  enabled  them  to  overtake 
the  ill-fated  ship.  Mr.  Baggott  made  no  attempt  to  save 
himself,  but  met  the  fate  of  his  captain  with  the  same 
composure. 

The  Abergavenny  was  of  about  1200  tons  burthen, 
and  was  destined  for  Bengal  and  China  ;  she  was  to  have 
laden  at  Bengal,  with  cotton  for  the  China  market.  The 
passengers  were  uncommonly  numerous;  forty  daily  sat 
down  at  the  captain's  table,  and  upwards  of  fourteen  at 
the  third  mate's.  She  had  on  board  upwards  of  89,0001. 
in  specie,  and  the  total  number  of  the  crew  and  passen- 
gers was  402.  Of  these  about  140  were  saved,  so  that 
more  than  260  persons  perished  with  the  unfortunate 
ship. 

The  ship  now  lies  about  2^  miles  S.S.E.  of  Wey mouth, 
and  she  has  27  feet  water  on  her  upper  deck.  Hopes 
are  however  entertained  that  she  may  be  weighed,  and 
that  the  treasure,  together  with  the  greatest  part  of  her 
cargo  valued  at  200,0001.  may  be  recovered. 


Heroism  of  the  Captain  and  Crew  of  an  English 
Privateer. 


A 


GALLANT  and  almost  incredible  action,  and  signal 
victory  gained  by  an  English  captain  commanding  one 
small  privateer,  over  a  large  Turkish  fleet,  is  related  by 
Roger  Earl  of  Castlemayne,  in  his  account  of  the  war 
between  the  Venetians  and  Turks,  in  a  letter  dated  23d 
May,  1666,  and  addressed  to  King  Charles  the  Second. 
The  book  is  scarce,  and  the  fact  very  little  known.  It  is 
in  substance  as  follows  : 

B  B  2  Captain 


188  HEROISM    OF    AN    ENGLISH    CAPTAIN. 

Captain  Thomas  Middleton,  whose  ship  had  been 
hired  into  the  Venetian  service,  performed  an  achieve- 
ment which  is  scarcely  to  be  paralleled.  The  Venetian 
Admiral  having  formed  a  design  against  the  Dardanelles, 
put  Middleton  into  such  a  desperate  situation,  that  he 
was  in  danger  of  being  sunk  by  every  shot  from  the  bat- 
teries on  the  shore.  He  acquainted  the  commander  in 
chief  with  the  circumstance,  at  the  same  time  informing 
him,  he  was  not  so  much  concerned  on  account  of  the 
danger  to  which  he  and  his  ship  were  exposed,  as  that 
he  was  placed  in  a  situation  where  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  annoy  the  enemy.  As  no  answer,  or  at  least  no 
satisfactory  one  was  returned  him,  and  seeing  that  it 
could  not  prejudice  the  fleet,  he  drew  off  a  little  his  ves- 
sel, his  only  livelihood,  from  the  needless  danger  to 
which  he  was  exposed.  When  the  business  was  over, 
he  was  dismissed  by  a  council  of  war,  and  stigmatized 
as  a  coward  ;  and  all  the  soldiers  being  taken  away,  he 
was  left  with  only  about  fifty  English  to  return  home,  or 
to  go  whither  he  pleased.  He  had  not  long  left  the 
fleet,  when  in  a  dead  calm  he  fell  in  with  25  sail,  of 
which  18  were  the  best  gallies  in  the  navy  of  the  Grand 
Signior.  The  Turks  crying  out  in  derision,  that  they 
would  eat  English  beef  for  dinner,  and  confiding  in  their 
own  strength  and  numbers,  immediately  attacked  him. 
Though  the  calm  was  favourable  to  their  purpose,  yet 
they  were  disappointed  of  their  prize,  for  after  a  long 
and  obstinate  encounter,  the  two  Pachas  who  com- 
manded the  hostile  squadron  were  killed,  together  with 
1500  of  their  men.  Great  numbers  of  the  enemy  were 
wounded,  and  the  vessels  were  so  shattered,  that  they 
were  scarcely  able  by  the  help  of  their  oars  to  effect 
their  escape,  and  were  all  rendered  unfit  for  service,  at 
least  for  that  year.  The  gallant  English  captain  had 
neither  wind,  sails,  nor  rigging  to  pursue  them  ;  and  it 

was 


(xE  O:RG:K;    MCORXANID, 
- //,•  A-/.//-,,/,.,/-  /?„„/,,-- 

/>W  Oct? zg  ;n,>-f 

l'i,f>  '.'  I  <•/.-  '     t,  ,/)c..f  ,-,„  Tl.sJGrby London  7fcw,-  Yard,. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  MORLAND.  J  89 

was  not  without  difficulty  that  he  carried  his  vessel  to 
Candia,  and  there  presented  to  the  Venetian  governor,  a 
whole  ton  of  salted  heads  of  those  who  had  been  killed 
in  their  frequent  boarding  of  his  vessel.  His  Excellency 
was  astonished,  and  after  bestowing  on  him  a  11  ima- 
ginable caresses,  he  informed  the  Senate  of  the  gallan- 
try of  Middleton,  who  was  presented  by  them  with  a 
chain  and  medal  of  gold,  as  an  honourable  testimony  of 
their  high  esteem,  and  his  own  valour.  He  did  not  long 
enjoy  his  well-earned  reputation,  but  died  on  his  passage 
home. 


EXTRAORDINARY    LONGEVITY    OF    THE    LAND    TORTOISE. 

IN  the  Library  of  Lambeth  Palace,  is  the  shell  of  a 
land-tortoise,  brought  to  that  place  by  Archbishop  Laud, 
about  1633,  which  lived  till  the  year  1753,  when  it  was 
killed  by  the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  A  labourer 
having,  for  a  trifling  wager,  dug  it  up  from  its  winter 
retreat,  neglected  to  replace  it,  and  it  is  supposed  to  have 
perished  by  the  frost  during  the  night.  —  Another  tortoise 
was  placed  in  the  gardens  of  the  episcopal  house  at  Ful- 
ham,  by  the  same  prelate,  when  bishop  of  London,  in  the 
year  1628:  but  this  died  a  natural  death  in  1754.  The 
a^es  of  the  animals  when  first  placed  in  those  situations 
are  not  known. 


LIFE  of  that  celebrated  Painter  and  eccentric  Character 
GEORGE  MORLAND,  with  a  Portrait. 

IN  a  work,  the  chief  object  of  which  is  to  delineate  the 
lives  and  actions  of  eccentric  and  remarkable  characters, 
few  persons  can  more  justly  claim  a  place  than  the  late 
celebrated  artist  George  Morland.  Though  blest  with 

talents, 


190  LIFE    OF    GEOKGE    MOKLAND. 

talents,  which,  if  prudently  applied,  might  have  raised 
him  to  affluence  and  distinction,  such  was  the  unfortunate 
bent  of  his  disposition,  that  he  associated  only  with  the 
meanest  of  mankind,  and  a  life  of  alternate  extravagance 
and  distress  was  terminated  by  his  death  in  a  spunging- 
house. 

George  Morland  was  born  in  the  year  1764.  His  fa- 
ther was  a  portrait  painter  in  crayons  ;  and  his  talents, 
though  respectable,  were  not  of  the  first  order.  In  early 
life  he  had  made  a  considerable  figure,  but  having  lost 
much  property  by  engaging  in  schemes  not  conducted 
with  prudence,  he  retired  from  the  world  in  disgust,  and 
educated  his  family  in  that  obscurity  to  which  the  narrow- 
ness of  his  circumstances  confined  him.  Whether  George, 
in  his  infancy,  manifested  any  predilection  for  the  art, 
or  whether  the  practice  of  it  was  forced  upon  him  by  his 
father,  we  know  not ;  but  it  is  certain,  that  in  the  exhibi- 
tion of  the  Society  of  Artists,  to  which  his  father  belonged, 
were  shewn  drawings  by  his  son,  when  only  four,  five,  and 
six  years  old,  which  would  have  done  credit  to  youths  who 
were  learning  the  art  as  a  profession.  From  this  time  his 
father  obliged  him  to  study  without  intermission  the  prac- 
tice of  every  department  of  the  art. 

He  was  at  this  period  confined  to  an  upper  room,  copy- 
ing drawings  or  pictures,  and  drawing  from  plaister  casts. 
Being  almost  entirely  restricted  from  society,  all  the  op- 
portunities he  had  for  amusement  were  obtained  by 
stealth,  and  his  associates  were  a  few  boys  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. The  means  of  enjoyment  were  obtained  by 
such  close  application  to  his  business  as  to  produce  a  few 
drawings  or  pictures  more  than  his  father  imagined  he 
could  complete  in  a  given  time.  These  he  lowered  by  a 
string  from  the  window  of  his  apartment  to  his  youthful 
companions,  by  whom  they  were  converted  into  money, 
which  they  spent  in  common  when  opportunities  offered. 

In 


LIFE    OF   GEORGE    MORLAND.  191 

In  this  manner  passed  the  first  seventeen  years  of  the  life 
of  George  Morland,  arid  to  this  unremilted  diligence  and 
application  he  was  indebted  for  the  extraordinary  power 
he  possessed  over  the  implements  of  his  art.  Avarice 
was  the  ruling  passion  of  his  father ;  and  this  passion 
was  so  insatiable,  that  he  kept  his  son  incessantly  at  work, 
and  gave  him  little,  if  any,  other  education.  To  this 
cause  must  doubtless  be  attributed  all  the  irregularities  of 
his  subsequent  life. 

Morland's  first  original  compositions  were  dictated  by 
his  father.  They  were  small  pictures  of  two  or  three 
figures  taken  from  the  ballads  of  the  day,  such  as  "  Young 
Roger  came  tapping  at  Dolly's  Window,"  &c.  These  his 
father  put  into  frames,  and  sold  at  different  prices,  from 
one  guinea  to  three,  according  to  the  pockets  of  his  cus- 
tomers. These,  though  infinitely  inferior  to  his  later  pro- 
ductions, were  much  admired  ;  many  fell  into  the  hands 
of  engravers,  and  the  engravings  made  from  them  first 
brought  Morland  into  notice. 

Some  gentlemen,    to  whom     the    elder  Morland   was 
known,  wished  to  patronize  the  youthful  artist :  from  one 
he  borrowed  two  capital  pieces  by  Vernet,  which  George 
copied  in  an  admirable  style.     Mr.  Angerstein  permitted 
him  to  take  a  copy  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  celebrated 
picture  of  Garrick  between  tragedy  and  comedy,  and  on 
this  occasion  the  unfortunate  peculiarity  of  his  disposition 
was   strikingly   displayed.     The   original   was    at   Black- 
heath,  whither  the  two  Morlands  went  to  copy  it.     Mr. 
Angerstein  wished  to  notice  the  youth,  and  to  observe  the 
progress  of  the  work  ;   but  he  refused  to  begin  his  picture 
till  he  had  obtained   a  solemn  promise  that  he  should  be 
overlooked    by  no  person  whatever,      The  promise  was 
given;   he  painted   the  picture;  associated  with  the   ser- 
vants while  he  remained  in  the  house,  and  no  encourage- 
in  en  t 


192  LIFE    OF    GEORGE    MORLAND. 

ment  or  intreaties  could  bring  him  into  the  company  of 
its  generous  and  public-spirited  proprietor. 

A  friend,  who  was  going  to  pass  the  summer  at  Mar- 
gate, advised  old  Morland  to  send  his  son  to  that  place 
to  paint  portraits.  The  plan  appeared  a  good  one,  and 
was  adopted.  George,  with  his  picture  of  Garrick  and 
some  others,  took  lodgings  for  the  season ;  customers 
flocked  to  him,  his  portraits  pleased,  and  he  began  a  great 
number.  Unfortunately  the  society  of  accomplished  wo- 
men or  rational  men  made  him  feel  his  own  ignorance 
and  insignificance,  hence  every  one  who  sat  to  him  was 
an  object  of  disgust.  The  pig-races,  and  other  elegant 
amusements  projected  for  the  lower  order  of  visitors  at 
Margate,  engaged  the  whole  of  his  attention,  and  the 
portraits  were  thrown  aside  to  be  completed  in  town. 
Instead  of  returning  home  with  his  pockets  full  of  money, 
he  only  brought  a  large  cargo  of  unfinished  canvasses  ; 
and  as  the  engagements  of  the  watering  place  are  forgot- 
ten in  the  capital,  very  few  of  them  were  afterwards  com- 
pleted. 

Though,  in  this  expedition,  he  obtained  very  little  pe- 
cuniary advantage,  he  gained  several  points  that  were  of 
considerable  consequence.  He  acquired  the  reputation 
of  being  an  artist  who  possessed  considerable  talents ; 
he  emancipated  himself  from  paternal  authority  ;  and  in- 
stead of  handing  a  sketch  slily  out  of  the  window  to  raise 
a  few  shillings,  he  did  what  he  pleased,  and  fixed  what 
price  he  thought  proper  on  his  labours.  By  means  of 
the  money  he  thus  obtained,  he  was  enabled  to  make 
many  acquaintances,  who  unfortunately  contributed  to  fix 
his  character  for  life.  The  lowest  among  the  professors 
of  his  art  now  became  the  companions  of  Morland.  To 
these  he  was  equal  in  intellect,  and  superior  in  talent ; 
he  was  likewise  superior  to  them  in  a  circumstance 

which 


LIFE    OF   GEORGE    MORLAND.  193 

which  will  always  obtain  from  such  persons  what  igno- 
rant men  covet,  the  adulation  of  their  associates.  A  ride 
into  the  country  to  a  smock-race  or  a  grinning-match,  a 
jolly  dinner  and  a  drinking-bout  after  it,  a  mad  scamper 
home  with  a  flounce  into  the  mud,  with  two  or  three  other 
et  ceteras  formed  the  sum  of  their  enjoyments.  Of  these 
Morland  had  as  much  as  he  desired,  and  as  he  was  the 
richest  of  the  set,  by  the  community  of  property  among 
such  jolly  dogs,  he  commonly  paid  for  them  more  than 
his  share. 

About  this  time  Morland  married,  and  became  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  J.  R.  Smith,  the  engraver,  who  then 
dealt  largely  in  prints,  for  whom  he  painted  many  pic- 
tures of  subjects  from  the  familiar  scenes  of  life.  Every 
one  was  acquainted  with  the  subjects,  and  felt  the  senti- 
ments they  conveyed,  so  that  the  prints  which  Mr.  Smith 
made  from  those  paintings,  had  an  unprecedented  sale, 
and  extended  Morland's  fame  not  only  throughout  this 
kingdom,  but  even  over  the  continent.  The  subjects 
were  probably  suggested  by  Smith,  as  they  displayed 
more  sentiment  than  Morland  ever  seemed  to  possess. 
His  peculiar  talent,  as  it  now  burst  forth  with  full  splen- 
dour, was  landscape,  such  as  it  is  found  in  sequestered 
situations,  and  with  appropriate  animals  and  figures. 
He  was  extremely  fond  of  visiting  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
and  there  is  scarcely  an  object  to  be  met  with  along  the 
shore  at  the  back  of  the  island,  that  his  pencil  has  not 
delineated.  His  best  pictures  are  replete  with  scenes 
drawn  from  that  spot.  A  fine  rocky  shore,  with  fisher- 
men mending  their  nets,  careening  their  boats,  or  sending 
their  fish  to  the  neighbouring  market-towns,  were 
scenes  he  most  delighted  in,  when  he  attempted  sea 
shore  pieces  ;  and  the  Isle  of  Wight  afforded  abundant 
opportunities  to  gratify  his  taste  and  fancy.  In  this  his 
constant  summer  excursion,  he  was  once  recognized  at  a 

Eccentric,  No.   V.  c  c  place 


194  LIFE    OF    GEORGE    MORLAND. 

place  called  Fresh-water  Gate,  in  a  low  public  house, 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Cabin.  A  number  of 
fishermen,  a  few  sailors,  and  three  or  four  rustics  formed 
the  homely  group  :  he  was  in  the  midst  of  them,  con- 
tributing his  joke,  and  partaking  of  their  noisy  mer- 
riment, when  his  friend  called  him  aside,  and  intreated 
his  company  for  an  hour.  Morland,  with  some  reluc- 
tance withdrew  from  the  Cabin  ;  arid  the  next  day  when 
his  friend  began  to  remonstrate  on  his  keeping  such 
company,  he  took  from  his  pocket  a  sketch-book,  and 
asked  him  where  he  was  to  find  a  true  picture  of  humble 
life  unless  in  such  a  place  as  that  from  which  his  friend 
had  taken  him.  The  sketch  was  a  correct  delineation 
of  every  thing  in  the  common  tap-room,  even  to  counte- 
nance, a  stool,  a  settee,  or  the  position  of  a  figure.  This 
representation  his  memory  had  supplied  after  leaving  the 
house,  and  one  of  his  best  pictures  is  the  very  scene  he 
then  sketched :  a  proof  that  his  mind  was  still  intent  on 
its  favorite  pursuit,  the  delineation  of  nature  in  her 
homeliest  attire,  though  his  manners  at  the  moment  be- 
trayed nothing  farther  than  an  eagerness'  to  partake  of 
the  vulgar  sensualities  of  his  surrounding  companions. 

The  manner  in  which  he  painted  rural  subjects  ob- 
tained so  much  notice,  that  his  fortune  might  now  have 
been  made  ;  purchasers  appeared  who  would  have  taken 
any  number  of  pictures  he  could  have  painted,  and 
paid  any  price  for  them  he  could  have  demanded,  but 
here  the  low-bred  dealers  in  pictures  stepped  in,  and 
completed  that  ruin  which  low-bred  artists  had  begun. 
His  unfortunate  peculiarity  assisted  them  much  in  this 
plan;  the  dislike  he  had  for  the  society  of  gentlemen 
made  him  averse  to  speak  to  one  who  only  wished  to 
purchase  his  pictures.  This  peculiarity,  his  friends  the 
dealers  took  care  to  encourage  to  such  a  degree,  that 
men  of  rank  and  fortune  were  often  denied  admittance  to 

him. 


LIFE    OF    GEORGE    MORLAND.  195 

him,  when  he  was  surrounded  by  a  gang  of  harpies  who 
pushed  the  glass  and  the  joke  about,  apparently  at  the 
quiz  who  was  refused  admittance,  hut  in  reality  at  the 
fool  who  was  the  dupe  of  their  artifices.  They  in  the 
character  of  friends  purchased  of  him.  all  his  pictures, 
which  they  afterwards  sold  at  very  advanced  prices.  This 
was  carried  to  such  an  extent,  that  gentlemen  who 
wished  to  obtain  Morland's  pictures  ceased  to  apply  to 
him  for  them,  but  applied  to  such  of  his  friends  as  had 
any  to  sell ;  so  that  he  was  entirely  cut  off  from  all  con- 
nection with  the  real  admirers  of  his  works,  and  a  com- 
petition took  place  among  those  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded, each  striving  to  obtain  possession,  and  to  exclude 
all  the  rest  from  a  share  in  the  prey. 

For  this  reason  all  were  anxious  to  join  in  his  country 
excursions  and  his  drin king-parties,  and  to  haunt  his 
painting-room  in  the  morning,  glass  in  hand,  to  obtain 
his  friendship.  Thus  his  original  failing  was  increased, 
his  health  and  his  talents  were  injured,  and  by  the  united 
efforts  of  the  crew,  his  gross  debauchery  produced  idle- 
ness and  a  consequent  embarrassment  of  his  circum- 
stances, when  he  was  sure  to  become  a  prey  to  some  of 
this  honest  set.  It  frequently  happened,  that  when  a 
picture  had  been  bespoken  by  one  of  his  friends  who  ad- 
vanced him  some  of  the  money  to  induce  him  to  work, 
if  the  purchaser  did  not  stand  by  to  see  it  finished,  and 
carry  it  away  with  him,  some  other  person,  who  was 
lurking  about  for  the  purpose,  and  knew  the  state  of 
Morland's  pocket,  by  the  temptation  of  a  few  guineas, 
obtained  the  picture,  and  carried  it  off,  leaving  the  in- 
tended purchaser  to  lament  his  loss,  and  to  seek  his  re- 
medy by  prevailing  on  Morland  to  paint  him  another 
picture  ;  that  is,  when  he  was  in  the  humour  to  work  for 
money  he  had  already  spent;  in  making  which  satisfac- 
tion he  certainly  was  not  very  alert.  Thus  all  were 

c  c  2  served 


196  LIFE    OF    GEORGE    MORLAND. 

served  in  their  turn,  and  though  each  exulted  in  the 
success  of  the  trick,  when  he  was  so  lucky  as  to  obtain 
a  picture  in  this  way,  yet  they  all  joined  in  exclaiming 
against  Morland's  want  of  honesty  in  not  keeping  his 
promises. 

The  consequences  of  this  conduct  were  frequently 
distress,  the  spunging-house  and  the  jail,  excepting  he 
had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  into  a  retirement  unknown 
to  all  but  some  trusty  dealer,  who  for  the  time  took  all 
his  works,  and  paid  him  a  stipulated  sum  for  his  support. 
On  one  occasion  to  avoid  his  creditors,  he  retired  from 
public  observation,  and  lived  in  great  obscurity  near 
Hackney.  Some  of  the  neighbours  from  his  extreme 
privacy  and  other  circumstances,  entertained  a  notion, 
that  he  was  either  a  coiner  or  fabricator  of  forged  bank- 
notes ;  which  suspicion  being  communicated  to  the  bank, 
the  directors  sent  some  police-officers  to  search  the  house, 
and  if  any  indications  of  guilt  should  appear,  to  take 
the  offender  into  custody.  As  they  approached,  they 
were  observed  by  Morland,  who  naturally  concluding 
them  to  be  a  bailiff,  and  his  followers  in  quest  of  him- 
self, immediately  retreated  into  the  garden,  went  out  at 
a  back  door,  and  ran  over  the  brick  fields  towards  Hox- 
ton,  and  then  to  London.  Mrs.  Morland,  trembling, 
opened  the  front  door,  when  the  police  officers  entered, 
and  began  to  search  the  house.  An  explanation  took 
place :  she  assured  them,  with  unaffected  simplicity, 
evidently  the  result  of  truth,  that  they  were  mistaken,  and 
informed  them  of  the  cause  of  his  flight.  As  they  dis- 
covered in  the  house  little  more  than  some  excellent  un- 
finished pictures,  which  excited  in  them  sentiments  of 
respect  and  admiration,  they  said  they  were  convinced  of 
the  mistake,  and  retired.  On  communicating  the  result 
of  their  search  to  the  directors,  and  informing  them  that 
they  had  made  no  discovery  of  bank-notes,  but  that  it 

was 


LIFE   OF    GEORGE    MORLAND.  197 

was  the  retreat  of  Morland  the  painter,  and  giving  them 
an  account  of  his  flight  to  avoid  them  as  bailiffs,  the 
directors  commiserating  the  pecuniary  embarrassment  of 
this  unfortunate  genius,  and  to  compensate  the  trouble 
they  had  unintentionally  given,  generously  presented  him 
with  forty  pounds. 

At  another  time  he  was  found  in  a  lodging  in  Somers- 
town,  in  the  following  extraordinary  circumstances.  His 
infant  child  that  had  been  dead  nearly  three  weeks,  lay 
in  its  coffin  in  one  corner  of  the  room;  an  ass  and  her 
foal  stood  munching  barley-straw  out  of  the  cradle  ;  a 
sow  and  pig  were  solacing  themselves  in  the  recess  of  an 
old  cupboard,  and  he  himself  was  whistling  over  a  beau- 
tiful picture  he  was  finishing  at  his  easel,  with  a  bottle  of 
gin  hung  up  on  one  side,  and  a  live  mouse  sitting,  or  if 
you  please  kicking,  for  his  portrait  on  the  other. 

Morland's  garret  served  him  for  all  the  purposes  of 
life,  and  of  this  he  has  left  a  most  admirable  picture  as 
a  companion  to  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds'  kitchen,  in  Lei- 
cester Square,  in  the  house  that  once  belonged  to  his 
father. 

The  department  of  his  art  in  which  Morland  shone 
forth  in  all  his  glory,  was  picturesque  landscape.  For 
about  seven  years  that  he  painted  such  subjects  he  was 
in  his  prime,  and  though  the  figures  he  introduced  were 
of  the  lower  order,  yet  they  were  consistent  with  the 
scenes,  and  had  nothing  that  created  disgust ;  but  when 
his  increasing  irregularities  led  him  from  the  wood-side 
to  the  ale-house,  his  subjects  assumed  a  meaner  cast,  as 
they  partook  of  the  meanness  of  his  society,  for  he  still 
painted  what  he  saw.  Stage-coachmen,  postillions  and 
drovers  drinking,  were  honoured  by  his  pencil  ;  his  sheep 
were  changed  for  pigs  ;  and  at  last  with  the  true  feeling 
of  a  disciple  of  Circe,  he  forsook  the  picturesque  cottage, 

and 


198  LIFE    OF   GEORGE    MORLAND. 

and  the  woodland  scenery,  and  never  seemed  happy  but 
in  a  pig-stye.  At  this  time  one  of  his  most  favourite 
resorts  was  the  top  of  Gray's  Inn  Lane,  where  it  opens 
into  the  fields  ;  there  he  might  be  seen  for  hours  together 
amidst  the  accumulation  of  ashes  and  filth  quaffing  co- 
pious draughts  of  his  ordinary  beverage,  and  sketching 
the  picturesque  forms  of  nightmen,  dustmen,  and  cinder 
wenches,  pigs,  half  starved-asses,  and  hacks  in  training 
for  the  slaughter-house. 

When  in  confinement,  and  even  sometimes  when  he 
was  at  liberty,  it  was  common  for  him  to  have  four  guineas 
a  day  and  his  drink,  an  object  of  no  small  consequence, 
as  he  began  to  drink  before  he  began  to  paint,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  both  alternately,  till  he  had  painted  as  much 
as  he  pleased,  or  till  the  liquor  had  completely  over- 
come him,  when  he  claimed  his  money,  and  business  was 
at  an  end  for  that  day.  This  laid  his  employer  under 
the  necessity  of  passing  his  whole  time  with  him,  to  keep 
him  in  a  state  fit  for  work,  and  to  carry  off  the  day's 
work  when  it  was  done  ;  otherwise  some  eaves-dropper 
snapped  up  his  picture,  and  he  was  left  to  obtain  what 
redress  he  could. 

By  this  conduct,  steadily  pursued  for  many  years,  he 
ruined  his  constitution,  diminished  his  powers,  and  sunk 
himself  into  general  contempt.  He  had  no  society,  nor 
did  he  wish  for  any,  but  that  of  the  lowest  of  those 
beings  whose  only  enjoyment  is  gin  and  ribaldry,  and 
from  which  he  was  taken  by  a  marshalsea  writ  for  a  tri- 
fling sum.  When  removed  to  a  place  of  confinement, 
he  drank  a  large  quantity  of  spirits,  and  was  soon  after- 
wards taken  ill.  The  man  in  whose  custody  he  was, 
being  alarmed  at  his  situation,  applied  to  several  of  his 
friends  for  relief;  but  that  relief,  if  it  was  afforded,  came 
too  late.  The  powers  of  life  were  exhausted,  and  he 
died  before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  forty  years.  His 

wife, 


EXECUTION    OP    WIZZARDS,  &C.  199 

wife,  whose  life  had  been  like  his  own,  survived  him  only 
two  days. 

Thus  perished  George  Morland,  whose  best  works  will 
command  esteem  so  long  as  any  taste  for  the  art  remains; 
whose  ordinary  productions  will  please  so  long  as  any  love 
for  a  just  representation  of  what  is  natural  can  be  found  ; 
and  whose  talents  might  have  ensured  him  a  life  of  hap- 
piness and  merited  distinction,  if  his  entrance  into  life  had 
been  guided  by  those  who  were  able  and  willing  to  cau- 
tion him  against  those  snares  which  are  continually  pre- 
paring by  interested  knavery  for  the  inexperience  of 
youth. 

A  complete  Chronological  List  of  the  Execution,  frc.  of 
reputed  Wizzards,  Witches,  Conjurers,  §"c. 

1574.  jflLGNEs  BRDGES  and  Rachael  Pindar,  girls  of 
eleven  or  twelve  years,  who  had  pretended  to  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  Devil,  and  had  vomited  pins  and  clouts, 
were  detected,  and  stood  before  the  preacher  at  St. 
Paul's  Cross,  and  acknowledged  the  imposture  they  had 
practised. 

1575.  The  Windsor  witches  hanged  at  Abingdon. 

157G.  About  seventeen  or  eighteen  were  condemned  at 
St.  Osyth  in  Essex. 

Two  hanged  at  Cambridge,  a  mother  and  her  daugh- 
ter. The  mother  said  the  Devil  had  been  true  to  her 
three  score  years,  and  she  would  not  renounce  him.  The 
daughter  died  penitent. 

In  fifteen  years  from  1580  to  Io95,  Remigius  burned 
900  in  Lorrain.  As  many  more  fled  out  of  the  country 
to  save  their  lives,  and  fifteen  laid  violent  hands  upon 
themselves  rather  than  endure  the  tortures  that  were  in- 
flicted. 

In    Germany  they  tortured    and    burned    them  daily. 

They 


200  EXECUTION    OF    WIZZA.RDS,    &C. 

They  poured  hot  oil  upon  their  legs,  and  put  candles  to 
their  arm-holes  to  extort  confessions. 

1582.  Florus  the  inquisitor,  burned  eighteen  at  Avig- 
non. 

1593.  The  three  witches  of  Warbois  executed  at  Hun- 
tingdon. 

1594.  Florimond  de   Remond,   counsellor  of  the  Par- 
liament of  Bourdeaux,  says,  that  at  this  time  the  crime 
of  witchcraft  was  grown  so  common  in   France,  that  the 
goals  were  not  sufficient  to  hold  the  prisoners,  nor  had 
they  judges  enough   to  hear  their  causes.     The  seats  of 
justice  were   daily  stained    with   their    blood,    and    they 
scarcely  ever  went  home  to   their  houses  otherwise  than 
astonished  at  the  hideous  and  frightful  things  which  the 
witches  confessed. 

1597.  Edmund  Hartly  hanged  at  Lancaster  on  an  in- 
dictment for  bewitching  seven  persons  of  the  family  of 
one  Mr.  Starky.  Being  a  weak  and  superstitious  man, 
Mr.  Starky  first  applied  to  Hartly  to  cure  them,  and 
kept  him  in  his  house  several  years,  allowing  him  forty 
shillings  a  year;  but  afterwards  he  prosecuted  and  hanged 
him.  In  this  trial  spectral  evidence  was  adduced  against 
him,  and  the  experiment  of  saying  the  Lord's  prayer, 
but  that  which  touched  his  life  was  Mr.  Starky's  deposi- 
tion that  he  made  a  circle  for  conjuration,  which  was 
felony  by  the  statute  then  in  force. 

1599.  Martha  Brossier,  a  counterfeit  demoniac  at  Paris, 
gave  great  trouble  to  Henry  IV.  by  pretended  fits  and 
foaming  and  interruptions  of  her  pulse  and  insensibi- 
lity when  pricked  with  needles.  Her  managers  gave  out 
that  she  had  hung  in  the  air  four  feet  higher  than  the 
heads  of  four  men  who  had  in  vain  tried  to  hold  her 
down. 

1612.  Fifteen  indicted,  and  twelve  condemned  at  Lan- 
caster. 

1615. 


EXECUTION    OF    WIZZARDS,    &C.  201 

1616.  Mary  Smith  hanged  at  Lynn.  She  died  very 
penitent  and  believed  herself  to  be  a  witch. 

1618.  Two  women  hanged  at  Lincoln  upon  an  indict- 
ment of  bewitching  the  Earl  of  Rutland's  children.  One 
old  woman  confessed  that  she  rubbed  one  of  the  Lady 
Catherine's  handkerchiefs  on  her  cat  Rutterkin  and  bade 
her  fly  and  go ;  on  which  the  cat  whined  and  cried  Meiv, 
by  which  she  understood  that  Rutterkin  had  no  power 
over  that  young  lady.  In  Bottesworth  church  are  to  be 
seen  two  marble  statues  of  these  children  with  an  inscrip- 
tion purporting  that  they  died  in  their  infancy  by  wicked 
practices  and  sorcery. 

1634.  The   nuns  of  Loudon  in   France  thought  to  be 

o 

possessed  by  evil  spirits.  They  seemed  to  suffer  violent 
tortures  and  speak  strange  languages.  When  they  were 
under  the  power  of  the  exorcisms  they  said  the  spirits 
were  sent  into  them  by  the  witchcraft  of  Urbain  Gran- 
dier.  He  was  a  very  learned  and  eminent  clergyman  ; 
but  was  a  favorer  of  the  Protestants  and  was  hated  by  the 
Catholics  on  other  accounts.  He  was  apprehended, 
stripped  naked,  searched  for  insensible  marks  and  put  to 
cruel  pains,  while  they  tried  with  a  knife  which  parts  of 
him  were  sensible  and  which  were  not.  He  was  adjured 
to  clear  himself  by  shedding  tears  if  he  was  innocent  and 
was  then  tortured  till  he  swooned  upon  the  rack ;  and 
maintaining  his  innocence  he  was  at  last  inhumanly 
burned,  without  being  suffered  either  to  unbosom  his  mind 
to  his  confessor  or  to  speak  to  the  people. 

About  this  time  seventeen  Pendle-forest  witches  were 
condemned  in  Lancashire  by  the  contrivance  of  a  boy 
and  his  father. 

1642.   Mother  Jackson  condemned  in  London. 

1644.  Sixteen    executed    at    Yarmouth,   discovered   by 
Hopkins  the  celebrated  witch-finder. 

1645.  Fifteen  condemned  at   Chelmsford,  and  hanged 
Eccentric,  ^Yo.  V.  D  D  some 


202  EXECUTION    OF    WIZZARDS,  &C. 

some  at  that,  place  and  some  at  Maningtree.     One  died 
in  goal  and  another  in  going  to  the  place  of  execution. 

One  hanged  at  Cambridge ;  she  kept  a  tame  frog  and 
it  was  sworn  to  be  her  imp. 

Forty  hanged  at  Bury  St.  Edmund's,  and  twenty  more 
at  different  times  in  the  county  of  Suffolk. 

1646.  Many  hanged  at  Huntingdon,  two  of  whom  were 
Elizabeth  Weed  and  John  Winnick. 

1649.  A  woman  convicted  at  Gloucester,  for  having 
sucked  a  sow  in  the  form  of  a  little  black  creature. 

1G53.  Ann  Bodenham,  Dr.  Lamb's  servant,  executed 
at  Salisbury  declaring  her  innocence. 

Jane  Lakeland,  hanged  or  burned  at  Ipswich. 

1G55.  William  Barton  and  his  wife  executed  in  Scot- 
land. He  confessed  that  he  lay  with  the  devil  in  the 
shape  of  a  woman,  and  that  he  had  fifteen  pounds  of  him 
in  good  money. 

Two  Borams,  mother  and  daughter,  hanged  at  Bury  St. 
Edmund's. 

1658.  Jane  Brooks  hanged   at   Chard,  for  bewitching- 
Richard  Jones,  of  Shepton  Mallett. 

Widow  Oliver  hanged  at  Norwich,  and  several  persons 
in  Cornwall. 

1659.  Two   hanged  at  Lancaster,  but  died  protesting 
their  innocence. 

A  trumpeter  and  his  wife  and  daughter  beheaded  in 
Holland,  confessing  themselves  guilty  of  witchcraft.  The 
daughter  might  have  been  saved,  but  would  not ;  for  she 
said  the  devil  was  at  that  moment  committing  unclean- 
ness  with  her. 

1663,  Juliana  Cox,  hanged  at  Taunton,   in  Somerset- 
shire.    She  died  declaring  her  innocence. 

1664.  Alice  Huson  and  Doll  Dilby,  tried  at  York.     Hu- 
son  said  she  received  money,  ten  shillings  at  a  time,  front 
the  devil. 

Ainv 


EXECUTION    OF    WIZZARDS,    &C.  203 

Amy  Duny  and  Rose  Cullender  tried  before  the  Lord 
Chief  Baron  Hale,  at  Bury  St.  Edmund's,  and  were 
hanged,  maintaining  their  innocence. 

1678.  Six  executed  in  Scotland,  upon  an  indictment 
for  bewitchinar  Sir  George  Maxwell.  Four  confessed  and 

o  O 

two  denied.  One  who  was  the  first  that  confessed  was 
pardoned,  and  used  as  a  witness  against  the  others.  They 
were  discovered  by  the  help  of  one  Janet  Douglas,  a  dumb 
girl,  who  made  signs  that  there  was  an  image  of  wax  in 
one  of  their  houses,  and  went  with  them  and  pulled  it 
out  of  a  hole  in  the  chimney;  but  the  accused  persons 
asserted  that  the  girl  herself  had  put  it  there. 

1682.  Susan  Edwards,  Mary  Trembles  and  Tempe- 
rance Lloyd  hanged  at  Exeter :  they  confessed  them- 
selves witches  but  died  uttering  pious  prayers  ;  these  were 
the  last  persons  executed  in  England  for  witchcraft. 

1689.  One  Glover,  an  Irish  Papist,  hanged  at  Boston, 
in  New  England,  for  supposed  witchcraft. 

1691.  Several  tried  by  swimming  in  Suffolk,  Essex, 
Cambridgeshire,  and  Northamptonshire,  some  of  whom 
were  drowned  in  the  trial. 

1694.  Mother  Mannings,  of  Hurtis,  in  Suffolk,  was 
tried  before  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  Hall,  at  Bury  St.  Ed- 
mund's. Many  things  were  deposed  concerning  her  spoil- 
ing of  wort  and  hurting  cattle,  and  that  several  persons 
on  their  death-beds  had  complained  that  she  killed  them. 
It  was  sworn  that  Thomas  Pannel,  her  landlord,  not 
knowing  how  to  get  her  out  of  his  house,  took  away  the 
door  and  left  her  without  one  Some  time  afterwards  he 
happened  to  pass  by,  when  she  said  to  him  :  "  Go  thy 
way,  thy  nose  shall  lie  upward  in  the  church-yard  before 
Saturday  next."  On  the  Monday  following  her  landlord 
sickened,  died  on  the  Tuesday,  and  was  buried  within 
the  week,  according  to  her  word.  In  her  indictment  she 
was  charged  to  have  an  imp  like  a  pole-cat,  and  one  wit- 

D  D  2  ness 


'234  EXECUTION    OF    WIZZARDS,    &C. 

ness  swore  that  coming  from  the  alehouse  about  nine  at 
night,  he  looked  in  at  her  window  and  saw  her  take  out 
of  her  basket  two  imps,  one  black  and  one  white.  It 
was  also  deposed  that  one  Sarah  Trager,  after  a  quarrel 
with  this  woman,  was  taken  home  dumb  and  lame  and 
was  in  that  condition  at  home  at  the  time  of  her  trial. 
Many  other  things  were  sworn,  but  the  jury  were  so  well 
directed,  that  they  brought  her  in  Not  Guilty, — and  she 
died  about  two  years  afterwards,  declaring  her  innocence. 
Her  landlord  it  appears  was  a  consumptive,  spent  man  ; 
the  words  were  not  exactly  as  they  were  sworn,  and  the 
affair  happened  seventeen  years  before  the  trial  took  place. 
The  white  imp  is  believed  to  have  been  a  lock  of  wool, 
taken  out  of  her  basket  to  spin,  and  its  shadow  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  black  one. 

1696.  Elizabeth  Horner  was  tried  before  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Holt,  at  Exeter.  Three  children  of  Wil- 
liam Bovel,  were  thought  to  have  been  bewitched  by  her, 
one  of  which  had  died.  It  was  deposed  that  another  had 
her  legs  twisted,  and  yet  from  her  hands  and  knees  she 
would  spring  five  feet  high.  According  to  the  deposi- 
tions, the  children  vomited  pins,  and  were  bitten  and 
pricked  and  pinched  till  the  marks  appeared.  The  chil- 
dren said  "  Bess  Homer's  head  would  come  off  her  body 
and  go  into  their  bellies  !"  The  mother  of  the  children 
stated,  that  one  of  them  walked  up  a  smooth  plaistered 
wall  till  she  was  nine  feet  from  the  ground  ;  this  she  did 
five  or  six  times  and  laughed  and  said,  "  Bess  Horner 
held  her  up."  This  poor  woman  had  something  like  a 
nipple  on  her  shoulder,  which  the  children  said  was 
sucked  by  a  toad.  Many  other  extraordinary  things  were 
deposed,  but  the  jury  brought  her  in  Not  Guilt//. 

1G97.  Twenty-eight  persons  were  accused  in  the  county 
of   Renfrew,   in   Scotland,  by  Christian   Davis,   a  girl  of 
about  eleven  years.     One  man   died  in  prison,  maintain- 
in  <r 


EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION.  205 

ing  his  innocence,  and  another  was  found  hanged  in 
goal.  Two  boys,  a  girl,  and  two  other  persons,  saved 
themselves  by  confessing,  and  upon  their  testimony  seven 
were  executed,  denying  the  crime. 

1698.  Two  old  women  were  burned  in  the  jurisdiction 
of  Hoi  stein  Plon  in  Germany,  for  witchcraft. 

During  the  last  century  though  the  progress  of  infor- 
mation and  reason  has  caused  executions  for  witchcraft 
to  be  rare,  yet  even  in  civilized  Europe,  instances  of  the 
kind  are  not  entirely  wanting.  Even  so  lately  as  the  year 
1781,  a  young  and  handsome  woman  was  burned  at  Se- 
ville in  Spain,  for  a  supposed  love-intrigue  with  the  devil, 
and  her  inhuman  judges  directed  that  her  nose  should  be 
cut  off  previous  to  her  being  led  to  execution,  to  prevent 
those  sentiments  of  compassion  which  her  beauty  might 
otherwise  have  excited,  in  the  bosoms  of  those  who  wit- 
nessed the  horrid  punishment. 


History  of  an  extraordinary  Apparition,  and  a  remarJiable 
discovert/  made  by  its  directions. 

JriOW  lightly  stories  of  apparitions  in  general  ought 
to  be  treated,  it  is  needless  to  say.  We  give  the  follow- 
ing account  as  related  by  Moreton,  of  an  adventure  in 
which  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Scott  was  concerned,  without, 
however,  presuming  to  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  all  the 
particulars.  It  is  but  just  to  premise,  that  this  divine  was 
equally  eminent  for  learning  and  piety,  and  that  he  pos- 
sessed a  judgment  too  penetrating  to  be  easily  made  the 
dupe  of  imposture. 

The  Doctor  was  sitting  alone  by  the  fire,  either  in  his 
study  or  his  parlour,  in  Broad-street,  where  he  lived, 
and  reading  a  book  ;  his  door  being  shut  fast  and  locked, 
he  was  well  assured  there  was  nobody  in  the  room  but 

himself! 


206  EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION. 

himself!  when  accidentally  raising  his  head  a  little,  he 
was  exceedingly  surprised  to  see  sitting  in  another  chair, 
at  the  other  side  of  the  fire-place,  an  ancient  grave  gen- 
tleman in  a  black  velvet  gown,  a  long  wig,  and  looking 
with  a  pleasing  countenance  towards  him,  as  if  going  to 
speak. 

The  spectre  spoke  first,  (for  the  Doctor  had  not  cou- 
rage, he  acknowledged,  to  address  it)  and  desired  him 
not  to  be  alarmed  or  surprised,  for  that  he  would  do  him 
no  harm,  but  that  he  came  to  him  upon  a  matter  of  great 
importance  to  an  injured  family,  who  were  in  great  dan- 
ger of  being  ruined  ;  and  that  though  he  (the  Doctor)  was 
a  stranger  to  the  family,  yet  knowing  him  to  be  a  man  of 
integrity,  he  had  pitched  upon  him  to  do  an  act  of  very 
great  charity,  as  well  as  justice;  and  because  he  could 
depend  upon  him  for  punctual  performance. 

The  Doctor  was  not  at  first  composed  enough  to  receive 
the  introduction  of  the  business  .with  due  attention ;  but 
seemed  rather  inclined  to  get  out  of  the  room  from  him  if 
he  could,  and  once  or  twice  attempted  to  knock  for  some 
of  the  family  to  come  up  ;  at  which  the  apparition  appeared 
rather  displeased. 

Seeing  the  Doctor  still  in  confusion,  the  phantom  ear- 
nestly desired  him  again  to  compose  himself,  declaring 
he  would  not  do  him  the  least  injury,  or  say  any  thing 
to  make  him  uneasy ;  but  requested  that  he  would  give 
him  leave  to  mention  the  business  he  came  about ;  when 
he  would  be  convinced  that  all  his  apprehensions  were 
groundless. 

By  this  time,  and  the  calm  behaviour  of  the  apparition, 
the  Doctor  had  recovered  himself  so  much,  (though  not 
with  any  kind  of  composure)  as  to  be  able  to  speak  to  it. 
— "  In  the  name  of  God,"  says  the  Doctor,  "  what  art 
thou?" — "  I  desire  you  will  not  be  alarmed,"  said  the 

apparition 


EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION.  207 

apparition  again  ;  "  I  am  a  stranger  to  you,  and  if  I  tell 
you  my  name,  you  do  not  know  it ;  but  you  may  do  the 
business  without  enquiring." 

The  Doctor  continued  still  discomposed  and  uneasy,  and 
again  repeated  his  former  question. 

Upon  this  the  spectre  seemed  displeased,  as  if  the  Doc- 
tor had  not  treated  him  with  sufficient  respect,  and  ex- 
postulated a  little  with  him,  telling  him,  he  could  have 
terrified  him  into  a  compliance,  but  that  he  had  adopted 
this  mild  behaviour,  in  order  to  win  his  compliance. 
Hereupon  the  Doctor  became  more  tranquil,  and  having 
enquired,  "What  is  it  you  would  have  with  me?"  The 
apparition,  as  if  gratified  with  tha  question,  began  his 
story  thus  : 

"  I  once  lived  in  the  county  of ,  where  I  left  a  very 

good  estate,  which  my  grandson  enjoys  at  this  time  ;  but 
he  is  sued  for  the  possession  by  my  two  nephews,  the  sons 
of  my  younger  brother."  Here  he  mentioned  to  him  his 
own  mime,  the  name  of  his  younger  brother,  and  the 
names  of  his  two  nephews  :  whereupon  the  Doctor  inter- 
rupted, and  asked  him  how  long  the  grandson  had  been 
in  possession  of  the  estate;  which  he  told  him  was  several 
years,  intimating  that  he  had  been  so  long  dead. 

He  then  proceeded,  and  told  him,  that  his  nephews 
would  be  too  hard  for  his  grandson  in  the  suit,  and  would 
deprive  him  of  the  mansion-house  and  estate  ;  so  that  he 
would  be  in  danger  of  being  entirely  ruined,  and  his  fa- 
mily reduced. 

Still  the  Doctor  could  not  see  into  the  matter,  or  what 
he  could  do  to  help  or  remedy  the  evil  that  threatened 
the  family;  and  therefore  asked  him  some  questions:  for 
now  they  began  to  address  each  other  familiarly.  "  But, 
(said  the  Doctor)  what  am  I  able  to  do  in  it  if  the  law  be 
against  him  ?" 

"  It  is  not,"  rejoined  the  spectre,  "  that  the  nephews 

Lave 


208  EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION. 

have  any  right  :  but  the  grand  deed  of  settlement,  being 
the  consequence  of  the  inheritance,  is  lost :  and  for  want 
of  that  deed,  they  will  not  be  able  to  make  out  their  title 
to  the  estate." 

"  Well !"  exclaimed  the  Doctor,  "  and  what  can  I  do  in 
the  case  ?" 

"If  you  will  go  down  to  my  grandson's  house,  and 
take  such  persons  with  you  as  you  can  trust,  I  will  give 
you  instructions  by  which  you  shall  find  the  deed  of 
settlement,  which  lies  concealed  in  a  place  where  I  put  it 
with  my  own  hands,  and  from  whence  you  shall  direct  my 
grandson  to  take  it  in  your  presence." 

"  But  why  then  do  you  not  direct  your  grandson  him- 
self to  do  this  ?"  enquired  the  Doctor. 

"Ask  me  not  about  that,"  replied  the  apparition, 
*'  there  are  divers  reasons  which  you  may  know  hereafter. 
I  can  depend  upon  your  honesty  in  it ;  and  in  the  mean 
time  I  will  so  dispose  matters,  that  you  shall  have  your 
expences  paid  you,  and  be  handsomely  compensated  for 
your  trouble." 

After  the  discourse,  and  several  other  expostulations, 
(for  the  Doctor  was  not  easily  prevailed  upon  to  go,  till 
the  spectre  seemed  to  look  angrily,  and  even  to  threaten 
him  for  refusing)  he  at  last  promised  to  obey. 

Having  obtained  this  promise,  the  phantom  further 
told  him  he  might  let  his  grandson  know,  that  he  had 
formerly  conversed  with  his  grandfather,  (but  not  to  say 
how  lately,  or  in  what  manner,)  and  ask  to  see  the  house  : 
and  that  in  such  an  upper  room,  or  loft,  he  should  find  a 
great  deal  of  old  lumber,  old  coffers,  old  chests,  and  such 
things  as  were  out  of  fashion  now,  thrown  by,  and  piled 
up  one  upon  another,  to  make  room  for  more  modern  fur- 
niture, cabinets,  chests  of  drawers,  and  the  like. — That 
in  such  a  particular  corner,  there  was  a  certain  old  chest, 
with  an  old  broken  lock  upon  it,  and  a  key  in  it,  which 
could  neither  be  turned  in  the  lock,  or  pulled  out  of  it. 

Hero 


EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION.  209 

Here  he  gave  him  a  particular  description  of  the  chest, 
and  of  the  outside,  the  lock  and  the  cover,  and  also  of  the 
inside,  and  of  a  private  place  in  the  chest,  which  no  man 
could  come  at,  or  find  out,  unless  the  whole  chest  was 
pulled  to  pieces. 

"  In  that  chest,"  said  he,  "  and  in  that  place,  lies  the 
grand  deed  or  charter  of  the  estate  which  conveys  the 
inheritance,  and  without  which  the  family  will  be  reduced 
to  a  state  of  abject  indigence." 

After  this  discourse,  and  the  Doctor  promising  to  go 
into  the  country  to  dispatch  this  important  commission, 
the  apparition,  putting  on  a  very  pleasant  and  smiling 
aspect,  thanked  him  and  disappeared. 

On  the  time  appointed  by  the  spectre,  the  Doctor  went 
down  to  the  country,  and  finding  the  gentleman's  house 
very  readily  by  the  directions,  knocked  at  the  door,  and 
asked  if  he  was  at  home  ;  after  being  told  he  was,  and 
the  servants  telling  their  master  it  was  a  clergyman,  the 
gentleman  came  to  the  door  and  very  courteously  invited 
him  in. 

The  Doctor  observed  that  the  gentleman  received  him 
with  unexpected  civility,  though  a  stranger,  and  without 
knowing  his  business.  They  entered  into  many  friendly 
discourses,  and  the  Doctor  pretended  to  have  heard  much 
of  the  family,  (as  indeed  he  had)  and  of  his  grandfather, 
"  from  whom,  Sir,"  said  he  ;  "I  perceive  the  estate  more 
immediately  descends  to  yourself." 

"  Aye,"  returned  the  gentleman,  and  shook  his  head  : 
"  my  father  died  young,  and  my  grandfather  has  left 
things  so  confused,  that  for  want  of  one  principal  writing, 
which  is  not  yet  come  to  hand,  I  have  met  with  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  from  a  couple  of  cousins,  my  grandfather's 
brother's  children,  who  have  put  me  to  a  great  expence 
about  it." 

Eccentric,  No.  V.  E  E  "I  hope 


210  EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION. 

"I  hope,  Sir,"  said  the  Doctor,  "you  have  got  over 
all  this." 

"  No,  truly,"  returned  the  gentleman,  "  if  I  may  be  so 
free  as  to  speak  my  mind,  I  think  we  shall  never  get  quite 
over  it,  unless  we  can  find  the  old  deed  ;  which,  however, 
I  hope  we  shall  find  ;  for  I  intend  to  make  a  general  search 
after  it." 

"  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  you  may  find  it,  Sir." 

"  I  don't  doubt  but  I  shall,"  added  the  gentleman,  "  for 
I  had  a  dream  concerning  it  last  night." 

"A  dream  about  the  writing  !"  said  the  Doctor,  "  then 
I  hope  it  was  that  you  should  find  it." 

"  Why,  Sir,"  continued  the  gentleman,  "  I'll  tell  you :  — 
I  dreamt  that  a  strange  gentleman  came  to  me,  whom  I 
had  never  seen  in  my  life,  and  helped  me  to  look  for  it:  I 
don't  know  but  you  may  be  the  very  man." 

"  I  should  be  glad  to  be  the  person,  I  assure  you," 
said  the  Doctor. 

"Nay,"  cried  the  gentleman,  "  if  you  should  think 
proper,  I  am  certain  you  may  be  the  man  to  help  me 
to  look  for  it." 

"  Aye,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  I  may  help  you  to  look  for 
it,  indeed,  and  I  will  do  it  with  all  my  heart;  but  I  would 
much  rather  be  the  man  that  should  help  you  to  find  it. 
Pray  when  do  you  intend  to  make  a  search  ?" 
"I  had  appointed  to  do  it  to-morrow." 
"But,"  enquired  the  Doctor,  "in  what  manner  do  you 
intend  to  search  ?" 

"  Why,  it  is  the  opinion  of  us  all,  that  my  grandfather 
was  so  very  much  concerned  about  preserving  this  writing, 
and  was  so  apprehensive  that  somebody  about  him  would 
rob  him  of  it,  if  they  could,  that  he  hid  it  in  some  very 
secret  place:  but  I  am  resolved  I'll  find  it  if  I  am  obliged 
to  pull  half  the  house  down." 

"  Truly," 


EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION.  211 

"  Truly,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  he  may  have  hid  it  in  such 
a  manner,  as  to  oblige  you  to  pull  the  house  down  before 
you  find  it,  or  perhaps  not  even  then  ;  for  I  have  known 
such  things  utterly  lost,  notwithstanding  all  the  care 
imaginable  to  preserve  them.  I  suppose  you  have 
searched  all  the  old  gentleman's  chests,  and  trunks,  and 
coffers,  over  and  over." 

"  Aye,"  replied  the  gentleman,  «'  and  turned  them  all 
inside  out,  and  there  they  lie  all  on  a  heap  up  in  a  great 
loft  or  garret,  with  nothing  in  them  :  nay,  we  knocked 
three  or  four  of  them  into  pieces  to  search  for  private 
drawers,  and  then  burnt  them  for  anger,  though  they 
were  fine  cypress  chests,  that  cost  a  deal  of  money  when 
they  were  in  fashion." 

"  I  am  sorry  you  burnt  them,1'  said  the  Doctor. 

"  Nay,  Sir,  I  did  not  burn  a  scrap  of  them,  till  they 
were  all  split  to  pieces,  and  it  was  not  possible  any  thing 
should  be  there." 

This  made  the  Doctor  a  little  easy,  for  he  began  to  be 
surprised,  when  he  told  him  he  had  split  some  of  them 
and  burnt  them. 

"Well,  Sir,"  said  the  Doctor,  "if  I  can  do  you  any 
service,  I'll  come  and  see  you  again  to-morrow,  and  assist 
you  in  your  search,  with  all  my  good  wishes." 

"  Nay,"  says  the  gentleman,  "  I  don't  design  to  part 
with  you ;  for  since  you  are  so  kind  as  to  offer  me  your 
help,  you  shall  stay  all  night  with  me,  and  be  at  the  first 
of  it." 

The  Doctor  had  now  gained  his  point  so  far  as  to  make 
himself  acquainted  and  desirable  in  the  house,  and  to 
have  a  kind  of  intimacy  ;  so  that  though  he  made  as  if  he 
would  go,  he  did  not  want  much  intreaty  to  make  him 
stay,  but  consented  to  lie  in  the  house  all  night. 

A  little  before  night  the  gentleman  asked  him  to  take  a 
E  E  2  walk 


212  EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION. 

walk  in  his  park,  but  he  put  it  off  with  a  jest:  «  I  had 
rather,  Sir,"  said  he,  smiling,  "  you  would  let  me  see  that 
fine  old  mansion-house,  that  is  to  be  demolished  to-mor- 
row; methinks  I'd  fain  see  the  house  once,  before  you 
pull  it  down." 

"With  all  my  heart,"  says  the  gentleman;  so  he  took 
him  immediately  up  stairs,  shewed  him  all  the  best  apart- 
ments, and  all  his  fine  furniture  and  fixtures  ;  and  coming 
to  the  head  of  the  great  stair-case  where  they  came  up, 
offered  to  go  down  again. 

"  But,  Sir,"  says  the  Doctor,  "  shall  we  not  go  up  a 
little  higher  ?" 

"There  is  nothing  above,"  says  the  gentleman,  "but 
garrets,  and  old  lofts,  full  of  rubbish,  and  a  place  to  look 
out  into  the  turret  and  the  clock-house." 

"  But,  Sir,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  it  all,  now  we  are 
about,  it,"  says  the  Doctor.  "  I  should  like  to  see  the  old 
lofty  towers  and  turrets,  the  magnificence  of  our  ances- 
tors, though  they  are  out  of  fashion  now  :  pray,  let  us  see 
all  now  we  are  about  it." 

"  Why,  it  will  tire  you,"  says  the  gentleman. 

"  No,  no  !"  says  the  Doctor,  "  if  it  don't  tire  you  who 
have  seen  it  so  often,  it  won't  tire  me,  I  assure  you  :  pray 
let  us  go  up  :"  so  away  goes  the  gentleman,  and  the  Doc- 
tor after  him . 

After  they  had  rambled  over  the  wild  part  of  an  old 
built  house,  which  I  need  not  describe,  he  passed  by  a 
great  room,  the  door  of  which  was  open,  and  in  it  a 
great  deal  of  old  lumber.  "  Pray  what  place  is  this?" 
says  the  Doctor,  looking  in  at  the  door,  but  not  offering 
to  go  in. 

"  Oh !  that  is  the  room  !"  says  the  gentleman  softly, 
(because  there  was  a  servant  attending  them)  "that  is 
the  room  I  told  you  of,  where  all  the  old  rubbish  lies — 

the 


EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION.  213 

the  chests,  the  coffers,  and  the  trunks  ;  look  on  them, 
see  how  they  are  piled  up  one  upon  another,  almost  to 
the  cieling." 

With  this  the  Doctor  goes  on,  and  looks  about  him, 
for  this  seemed  to  be  the  place  he  was  directed  to,  and 
which  he  wanted  to  see.  He  had  not  been  in  the  room 
two  minutes,  before  he  found  every  thing  just  as  ihe  spec- 
tre at  London  had  described.  He  went  directly  to  the 
pile  he  had  been  told  of,  and  fixed  his  eye  upon  the  very 
chest,  with  the  old  rusty  lock  upon  it,  which  would  neither 
turn  round,  nor  come  out. 

"  Upon  my  word,"  says  the  Doctor,  "you  have  taken 
pains  enough,  if  you  have  rummaged  all  these  drawers, 
chests,  and  coffers,  and  every  thing  that  may  have  been 
in  them." 

"  Indeed,  Sir  !"  says  the  gentleman,  "  I  have  emptied 
every  one  of  them  myself,  and  looked  over  all  the  old 
musty  writings,  one  by  one,  with  some  help  indeed,  but 
they  every  one  passed  through  my  own  hands,  and  under 
my  own  eyes." 

"  Well,  Sir,"  says  the  Doctor,  "  I  see  you  have  been 
in  earnest,  and  I  find  the  thing  is  of  great  consequence 
to  you. 

"  I  have  a  strange  fancy  come  into  my  head  this  very 
moment ;  will  you  gratify  my  curiosity  with  only  opening 
and  emptying  one  small  chest,  or  coffer,  that  I  have  cast 
my  eye  upon  ?  There  may  be  nothing  in  it ;  for  you  are 
satisfied,  I  believe,  that  I  never  was  here  before  :  but  I 
have  a  strange  notion  that  there  are  some  private  places 
in  it,  which  you  have  not  found;  perhaps  there  may  be 
nothing  in  them,  when  they  are  found." 

The   o-entleman  looked   on   the  chest  smiling:  "Ire- 

O  o 

member  opening  it  very  well ;"  and  turning  to  his  servant, 
"Will,"  says  he,  "don't  you  remember  that  chest?" — 
"  Yes,  sir,"  says  Will,  "  very  well  ;  I  remember  you  were 


214  EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION. 

so  weary  you  sat  down  upon  the  chest,  when  every  thing 
was  out  of  it;  you  clapped  down  the  lid  and  sat  down, 
and  sent  me  down  to  my  lady,  to  bring  you  a  dram  of 
citron  ;  you  said  you  were  tired,  you  was  ready  to  faint." 

"  Well,  Sir,  it  is  only  a  fancy  of  mine,  and  perhaps 
there  may  be  nothing  in  it." 

"  Tis  no  matter  for  that."  says  the  gentleman,  "  you 
shall  see  it  turned  upwards  again,  before  your  face,  and 
so  you  shall  all  the  rest,  if  you  speak  but  the  word." 

"  Well,  Sir,"  says  the  Doctor,  "  if  you  will  oblige  me 
only  with  that  one,  I'll  trouble  you  no  farther." 

Upon  this,  the  gentleman  immediately  caused  the  coffer 
to  be  dragged  out  and  opened  :  for  it  could  not  be  locked, 
the  key  would  neither  lock  it  nor  unlock  it.  When  the 
papers  were  all  out,  the  Doctor,  turning  his  face  another 
way,  as  if  he  would  look  among  the  papers,  but  taking 
little  or  no  notice  of  the  chest,  stooped  down,  and,  as  if 
supporting  himself  with  his  cane,  drops  it  into  the  chest, 
but  snatched  it  out  again  hastily,  as  if  it  had  been  a  mis- 
take :  and  turning  to  the  chest,  he  claps  the  lid  of  it  down, 
and  sits  down  upon  it,  as  if  he  was  weary  too. 

However,  he  takes  an  opportunity  to  speak  softly  to 
the  gentleman,  to  send  away  his  man  for  a  moment ; 
"  for  I  would  speak  a  word  or  two  with  you,  Sir,"  says 
he,  out  of  his  hearing,  and  then  recollecting  himself, 
"Sir,"  says  he  aloud,  "can  you  not  send  for  a  hammer 
and  a  chissel  ?" 

"  Yes,  Sir,"  says  the  gentleman.  "  Go,  Will,"  says  he 
to  his  man,  "  fetch  a  hammer  and  chissel." 

As  soon  as  Will  was  gone,  "  Now,  Sir,"  says  the  Doc- 
tor, "  let  me  say  a  bold  word  to  you  ;  I  have  found  your 
writings,  I  have  found  your  grand  deed  of  settlement :  I 
would  lay  you  an  hundred  guineas  I  have  it  in  this  coffer." 

The  gentleman  takes  up  the  lid  again,  handles  the 
chest,  looks  over  every  part  of  it,  but  could  see  nothing, 

and 


EXTRAORDINARY    APPARITION.  215 

and  seemed  confounded  and  amazed !  "  What  do  you 
mean  ?"  says  he  to  the  Doctor,  "  you  have  no  unusual 
art,  I  hope,  no  conjuring  hand;  here  is  nothing  but  an 
empty  coffer." 

"  Not  I,  upon  my  word,"  says  the  Doctor,  "  I  am  no 
magician,  or  cunning  man ;  I  abhor  it ;  but  I  tell  you 
again,  the  writing  is  in  this  coffer." 

The  gentleman  knocks  and  calls,  as  if  he  was  frighted, 
for  his  man  with  the  hammer  and  chissel ;  but  the  Doc 
tor  sat  composed  upon  the  lid  of  the  coffer. 

At  length  the  man  brings  the  hammer  and  chissel,  and 
the  Doctor  goes  to  work  with  the  chest ;  knocks  upon  the 
flat  of  the  bottom.  "  Hark !"  says  he,  "  don't  you  hear  it, 
Sir ;  don't  you  hear  it  plainly  ?" 

"Hear  what?"  says  the  gentleman,  "I  don't  under- 
stand you,  indeed." 

"  Why  the  chest  has  a  double  bottom,  Sir,  a  false  bot- 
tom," says  the  Doctor ;  "  do  you  not  hear  it  sound  hol- 
low ?" 

In  a  word,  they  immediately  split  the  inner  bottom 
open,  and  there  lay  the  parchment  spread  abroad  flat,  on 
the  whole  breadth  of  the  bottom  of  the  trunk,  as  a  quire 
of  paper  is  laid  on  the  flat  of  a  drawer. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe  the  joy  and  surprise 
of  the  gentleman,  and  soon  after  of  the  whole  family;  for 
the  gentleman  sent  for  his  lady,  and  two  of  his  daughters, 
up  into  the  garret,  among  all  the  rubbish,  to  see  not  only 
the  writings,  but  the  place  where  they  were  found,  and 
the  manner  how. 

Certain  it  is,  that  their  being  found  was  of  the  utmost 
importance  ;  as  the  establishment  of  not  only  a  family, 
but  a  generation  of  families,  might  depend  upon  these 
writings ;  and  that,  no  doubt,  made  the  old  gentleman 
lay  them  up  so  safe. 

Some 


[     216     ] 

Some  account  of  the  Life  of  Thomas  Roberts,  well  known 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nottingham  by  the  name  of  Old 
Tom. 

(With  a  striking  likeness.} 

JL  HOMAS  Roberts,  better  known  by  the  appellations  of 
Old  Tom,  Higgling  Tom  and  Taffy,  was  born  about  the 
year  1735  ;  he  was  a  native  of  Wales,  but  removed  when 
very  young  to  Radford,  near  Nottingham,  where  he  mar- 
ried. He  worked  as  a  collier  in  the  pits  belonging  to 
Lord  Middleton,  at  Wollaton,  five  miles  from  the  latter 
place,  till  he  was  prevented  from  following  that  occupation 
by  a  dreadful  accident,  from  which  it  is  truly  wonderful 
that  he  escaped  with  his  life.  He  was  unfortunately 
precipitated  from  the  top  to  the  very  bottom  of  one  of  the 
pits,  by  which  he  broke  his  back  and  some  of  his  ribs,  and 
dislocated  several  of  his  limbs. 

On  his  recovery  from  this  heavy  affliction,  which  hap- 
pened when  he  was  about  thirty-five  years  old,  he  pur- 
chased some  asses  and  commenced  a  dealer  in  coals.  It 
should  here  be  observed,  that  in  the  counties  of  Notting- 
ham, Derby,  York,  and  others  adjacent;  it  is  customary 
to  fetch  coals  from  the  pits  on  the  backs  of  asses,  or  some- 
times of  horses  of  a  small  breed,  there  denominated  Gal- 
loways, and  that  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  a  string 
of  ten  or  a  dozen  of  those  animals  thus  employed,  belong- 
ing to  one  person.  Roberts,  however,  had  but  three,  and 
with  these  he  contrived  to  procure  a  subsistence  for  him- 
self and  his  wife.  He  fetched  his  coals  from  the  pits  at 
which  he  had  formerly  worked,  and  disposed  of  them  at 
Nottingham. 

His  remarkable  figure  soon  brought  him  into  general 
notice  in  that  neighbourhood.  He  was  very  tall,  but  in 
consequence  of  the  injury  he  had  received  from  his  fall, 
he  walked  almost  double,  supporting  himself  by  a  long, 

thick 


LIFE    OF   THOMAS    ROBERTS.  217 

thick  pole  with  one  hand  and  with  the  other  constantly 
on  his  back.  He  was  scarcely  ever  seen  without  a  short 
pipe  in  his  mouth,  and  was  always  dressed  in  a  loose  frock 
of  coarse  harden,  tied  before  and  reaching  down  to  his 
ancles. 

That  old  Tom  was  of  an  industrious  disposition  cannot 
be  denied,  for  he  often  went  two  journies  in  a  day.  His 
feeling  and  consideration  for  his  poor  beasts  was  another 
praise-worthy  trait  in  his  character ;  for  though  he  travel- 
led so  many  miles,  he  was  never  known,  even  if  ever  so 
much  fatigued,  to  ride  on  any  of  his  asses.  This  singula- 
rity induced  some  mischievous  lads  to  play  him  the  fol- 
lowing trick.  One  evening  as  he  was  returning  from  Not- 
tingham to  his  humble  home,  he  was  met  by  two  youths 
who  asked  the  old  man  why  he  did  not  ride.  He  returned 
them  an  abrupt  answer,  which  irritated  them  so  much, 
that  they  resolved  he  should  for  the  first  time  in  his  life 
ride  home  on  one  of  his  beasts.  They  accordingly  seized 
the  poor  fellow,  set  him  on  one  of  the  asses,  tied  his  legs 
underneath  the  animal's  belly,  strapped  his  hands  behind 
him,  and  cording  the  other  two  asses  to  his  legs  on  each 
side,  they  left  him  with  his  face  towards  the  tail,  to  travel 
home  at  his  leisure.  In  this  condition  he  had  proceeded 
more  than  two  miles,  when  he  met  with  some  person, 
more  humane  than  the  wanton  youths  from  whom  he  had 
experienced  such  rude  treatment,  and  who  set  the  poor 
fellow  at  liberty.  He  was  ever  afterwards  accompanied 
in  his  journies  by  a  boy,  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the 
same  usage. 

He  followed  his  occupation  till  his  death,  which  hap- 
pened in  May  or  June  1 795,  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his 
age.  If  we  reckon  that  he  went  only  one  journey  in  a 
day,  he  must,  in  the  course  of  twenty-five  years,  have  tra- 
velled upwards  of  ninety  thousand  miles,  or  nearly  four 

Eccentric,  No.  V.  F  F  times 


218  DISCOVERY    OF    TREES. 

times  the  circumference  of  the  globe.  His  wife,  who  sur- 
vived him,  was  not  long  afterwards  married  to  a  Mr. 
Thomas  Parr,  of  Nottingham,  but  she  is  since  dead. 


Remarkable  discovery  of  Trees,  and  antique  Curiosities  in 
the  Levels  of  Hatfield,  in  Yorkshire. 

JL  HE  levels  of  Hatfield  Chase,  in  Yorkshire,  were  the 
largest  chase  of  red  deer  that  King  Charles  I.  had  in  all 
England,  containing  in  all  above  180,000  acres  of  land, 
about  half  of  which  was  annually  drowned  with  vast 
quantities  of  water,  which  being  sold  to  oue  Cornelius 
Vermuiden,  a  Dutchman,  he  effectually  discharged  and 
drained  the  water  from  it,  after  which  he  reduced  it  into 
arable  and  pasture  land  at  the  expence  of  above  40,0001. 
In  the  soil  of  all  the  said  180,000  acres  of  land,  whereof 
90,000  acres  were  drained  even  in  the  bottom  of  the 
river  Ouse  and  the  adventitious  soil  of  all  Marshland,  and 
about  the  skirts  of  the  Lincolnshire  wolds  as  far  as  Gains- 
borough, Bawtry,  Doncaster,  Bain,  Snaith  and  Holden, 
are  found  vast  numbers  of  roots,  and  trunks  of  trees  of 
all  sizes,  and  of  all  species  which  this  island  formerly 
did  or  at  present  does  produce:  as  Firs,  Oaks,  Birch, 
Beech,  Yew,  Wirethorn,  Willow,  Ash,  &c.  the  roots  of 
all  or  most  of  which  stand  in  the  soil  in  their  natural  po- 
sition as  thick  as  ever  they  could  grow,  and  the  trunks  of 
most  of  them  lye  by  their  roots.  Most  of  the  large  trees 
lye  along  about  a  yard  from  their  roots,  (to  which  they 
belonged,  as  appears  very  plainly  by  their  situations  and 
the  likeness  of  the  wood)  with  their  tops  commonly  north 
east,  though  indeed  the  smaller  trees  lye  almost  every 
way  across  the  former,  some  over  and  others  under  them. 
The  third  part  of  all,  which  are  Firs,  are  some  of  them 
30  yards  long  and  upwards,  and  sold  for  masts  and  keels 

of 


DISCOVERY    OF    TREES.  219 

of  ships :  there  have  been  Oaks  found  20,  30  and  35  yards 
long,  yet  wanting  several  yards  at  the  small  end,  some  of 
which  have  heen  sold  at  4,  8,  10  and  15  pounds  a  piece, 
which  are  as  black  as  ebony,  and  very  durable  in  any  ser- 
vice they  are  put  to :  as  for  Ash,  it  is  commonly  observed 
that  the  constituent  parts  of  their  texture  are  so  dissolved, 
that  they  are  as  soft  as  earth,  and  are  commonly  cut  in 
pieces  by  the  workmen's  spades,  which  as  soon  as  they 
are,  flung  up  into  the  air  crumble  into  dust ;  but  all  the 
rest,  even  the  Willows  themselves,  which  are  softer  than 
Ash,  preserve  their  substance  and  texture  entire  to  this 
clay.  Mr.  De  la  Pryme  has  seen  fir  trees,  that  as  they  lay 
along,  after  they  had  fallen,  emitted  large  branches  from 
their  sides,  which  had  grown  up  to  the  bulk  and  height  of 
considerable  trees. 

It  is  very  observable,  and  manifestly  evident,  that  seve- 
ral of  all  those  sorts  of  trees  have  been  burnt,  but  espe- 
cially the  fir-trees,  some  quite  through,  and  others  on  one 
side:  some  have  been  found  chopped  and  squared,  others 
bored  through,  and  others  half  split  with  large  wooden 
wedges,  with  stones  in  them,  and  broken  axe-heads,  some- 
what resembling  the  figure  of  sacrificing  axes,  and  all  this 
in  such  places  and  at  such  depths,  as  could  not  be  opened 
since  the  destruction  of  this  forest,  till  the  time  of  the 
drainage.  Near  a  large  root  in  the  parish  of  Hatfield, 
were  found  eio-ht  or  nine  coins  of  some  of  the  Roman  Em- 

O 

perors,  very  much  consumed  and  defaced ;  and  it  is  wor- 
thy of  observation,  that  upon  the  confines  of  this  low 
country,  between  Burningham  and  Brumby  in  Lincoln- 
shire, are  several  large  hills  of  loose  sand,  under  which, 
as  they  are  yearly  worn  or  blown  away,  are  discovered 
several  roots  of  large  firs,  with  the  marks  of  the  axe  as 
fresh  upon  them  as  if  they  had  been  cut  down  but  a  few 
weeks,  and  this  Mr  De  la  Pryme  has  often  seen  ;  hazel- 

F  F  '2  nuts 


220  DISCOVERY    OF    TREES. 

nuts  and  acorns  have  been  frequently  found  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  soil  of  those  levels  and  moors,  and  whole  bushels 
of  fir-apples  or  cones  in  large  quantities  together ;  and 
at  the  very  bottom  of  a  new  river  or  drain,  almost  100 
yards  wide  and  four  or  five  miles  long,  were  found  old 
trees  squared  and  cut,  rails,  posts,  bars,  old  links  of 
chains,  horseheads,  an  old  axe,  somewhat  like  a  battle- 
axe;  two  or  three  coins  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian ;  one 
of  which  Mr.  De  La  Pryme  saw  with  Mr.  Cornelius  Lee, 
of  Hatfield,  having  the  Emperor's  head  on  one  side  and 
on  the  reverse  a  spread  eagle  ;  but  that  which  is  more 
observable  is,  that  the  very  ground  at  the  bottom  of  the 
drain  was  found  in  some  places  to  lye  in  ridges  and  fur- 
rows ;  thereby  plainly  shewing,  that  it  had  been  ploughed 
and  tilled  in  former  days. 

Mr.  Edward  Canby  told  Mr.  De  La  Pryme,  that  there 
was  found  under  a  large  tree  in  the  parish  of  Hatfield, 
an  old  fashioned  knife,  with  a  haft  of  a  very  hard  and 
black  sort  of  wood,  which  had  a  cap  of  copper  or  brass 
on  the  one  end,  and  a  ring  of  the  same  metal  at  the  other 
end,  where  the  blade  went  in,  which  blade  soon  moul- 
dering away,  he  got  a  new  one  put  in  the  haft.  The 
same  gentleman  also  found  an  oak  tree  within  his 
moors,  40  yards  long,  4  yards  in  diameter  at  the  large 
end,  3  yards  and  a  foot  in  the  middle,  and  two  yards  at 
the  smaller  end,  so  that  by  a  moderate  computation  the 
tree  seemed  to  have  been,  twice  as  long,  and  for  it  he 
was  offered  twenty  pounds.  At  another  time  he  found 
a  fir-tree  thirty-six  yards  long,  besides  the  supposed 
length  of  it,  which  might  well  be  computed  at  fifteen 
yards  more;  so  that  there  have  been  exceedingly  large 
trees  in  these  levels,  and  what  is  also  very  strange  is,  that 
there  was  found  at  the  very  bottom  of  a  turf  pit,  a  man 
lying  along,  with  his  head  upon  his  arm,  as  in  a  common 

posture 


ACCOUNT    OF    NATHANIEL    HULME.  221 

posture  of  sleep,  whose  skin  being  tanned  as  it  were,  by 
moor-water,  preserved  his  shape  entirely  ;  but  his  flesh 
and  most  of  his  bones  were  consumed. 


Extraordinary  account  of  a   Man  with  Horns  on  his 
Fingers  and  Toes. 


T 


HERE  lived  at  Bolton,  eight  miles  from  Manchester,  one 
Nathaniel  Hulme,  aged  about  seventeen,  who  had  the 
small-pox  when  he  was  about  eight  years  of  age,  soon  after 
which  he  had  a  stubborn  itch,  almost  to  a  degree  of  le- 
prosy, with  which  his  fingers  and  thumb  nails  began  to 
grow  thick,  and  by  degrees  to  harden  into  horns,  which 
grew  in  seven  or  eight  months  an  inch  long,  some  almost 
two  inches,  and  others  much  longer.  It  be^an  in  the  fore- 

'  O  O 

finger  of  his  left  hand,  and  so  came  to  all  the  rest  of  that 
hand,  which  had  as  many  horns  as  fingers  and  thumbs,  all 
which  horns  in  about  a  twelvemonth  fell  off  by  degrees, 
that  which  grew  first  falling  off  first  without  any  pain,  un- 
less when  cut  off  as  they  were  at  the  beginning:  there 
were  likewise  large  quicks  or  roots  under  the  nails.  By 
degrees  they  came  on  the  thumb  and  then  on  the  fingers 
of  the  right  hand,  which  grew  to  the  same  length  with 
the  former  in  about  a  year's  time  and  then  fell  off,  he 
having  shed  them  five  or  six  times  ;  one  of  the  horns  that 
grew  on  the  ring  finger  of  the  right  hand  was  three 
inches  long  ;  after  they  had  all  come  off  the  left  hand  they 
grew  again.  The  one  on  his  little  finger  was  two  inches 
long,  and  Dr.  Richard  Wroe  had  one  or  two  of  them  by 
him.  About  two  years  after  the  Dr.  saw  him  frequently, 
when  the  horns  still  continued  to  grow  and  fall  off  as 
usual ;  he  had  horns  on  every  toe,  but  he  kept  them  cut, 
that  he  might  be  able  to  wear  shoes,  and  he  was  so  over- 
spread with  the  leprosy  that  the  Dr.  thought  he  could  not 
live  long. 

Account 


[     222     ] 

Account  of   Singular   Tenures  by  which  many  Estates  in 
this  Kingdom  are  held. 

FINCHINGFIELD. —  County  of  Essex. 

OHN  COMPES  held  this  manor  of  King  Edward  III.  by 
the  service  of  turning  the  spit  at  his  coronation. 

GATESHILL. —  County  of  Surry. 

Robert  de  Gatton  holds  the  manor  of  Gateshill,  in  the 
county  of  Surry,  by  the  serjeanty  of  being  marshall  of 
twelve  girls  who  followed  the  King's  court. 

Harrio  de  Gatton  holds  the  manor  of  Gateshull,  in  the 
county  of  Surry,  of  our  lord  the  King,  by  serjeanty  of 
being  marshall  of  the  whores.,  when  the  King  should  come 
into  those  parts.  And  he  was  not  to  hold  it  but  at  the 
will  of  the  King. 

BOROUGH  OF  GUILDFORD. —  County  of  Surry. 

Robert  Testard  held  certain  land  in  the  town  of  Guild- 
ford,  by  serjeanty  of  keeping  the  whores  in  the  court  of 
our  lord  the  King.  And  it  is  set  at  25s.  a-year  rent. 

Thomas  de  la  Puille  holds  one  serjeanty  in  the  town  of 
Guldeford,  of  the  gift  of  Richard  Testard,  for  which  he 
formerly  used  to  keep  the  laundresses  of  the  King's  court; 
and  now  he  pays  at  the  Exchequer  25s. 

HEMINGSTON. —  County  of  Suffolk. 

Rowland  le  Sarcere  held  one  hundred  and  ten  acres  of 
land  in  Hemingston,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  by  ser- 
jeanty ;  for  which,  on  Christmas-day,  every  year,  before 
our  sovereign  lord  the  King  of  England,  he  should. per- 
form, altogether,  and  at  once,  a  leap,  a  puff,  and  &f — t ; 
(or  as  Mr.  Blount  has  it,  he  should  dance,  puff  up  his  cheeks, 
making  therewith  a  sound,  and  let  a  crack  ;  and,  because 
it  was  an  indecent  service,  therefore  it  was  rented,  says 
the  record,  at  26s.  8d.  a-year,  at  the  King's  Exchequer. 

Cue 


ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES.  223 

One  Baldwin,  also,  formerly  held  those  lands  by  the 
same  service  ;  and  was  called  by  the  nick-name  of 
Baldwin  le  Petteur. 

LISTON. —  County  of  Essex. 

In  the  41st  of  Edward  III.  Joan,  the  wife  of  William 
Leston,  held  the  manor  of  Overhall,  in  this  parish,  by 
the  service  of  paying  for,  bringing  in,  and  placing  of  five 
wafers  before  the  King,  as  he  sits  at  dinner  upon  the  day 
of  his  coronation. 

At  the  coronation  of  King  James  II.  the  lord  of  the 
manor  of  Listen,  in  Essex,  claimed  to  make  wafers  for 
the  King  and  Queen,  and  serve  them  up  to  their  table  ; 
to  have  all  the  instrument?  of  silver  and  other  metal,  used 
about  the  same,  with  the  linen  and  certain  proportions  of 
ingredient?,  and  other  necessaries,  and  liveries  for  him- 
self, and  two  men.  Which  claim  was  allowed,  and  the 
service,  with  his  consent,  performed  by  the  King's  offi- 
cers, and  the  fees  compounded  for  at  301. 

At  the  coronation  of  their  present  Majesties,  William 
Campbell,  of  Liston  Hall,  Esq.  as  lord  of  this  manor, 
claimed  to  do  the  same  service,  which  was  allowed  ;  and 
the  King  was  pleased  to  appoint  his  son,  William  Henry 
Campbell,  Esq.  to  officiate  as  his  deputy,  who  ac- 
cordingly attended  and  presented  the  wafers  to  their 
Majesties. 

HEYDON. — County  of  Essex. 

At  the  coronation  of  King  James  II.  the  lord  of  the 
manor  of  Heydon,  in  Essex,  claimed  to  hold  the  bason 
and  ewer  to  the  King,  by  virtue  of  one  moiety,  and  the 
towel,  by  virtue  of  another  moiety  of  the  said  manor, 
when  the  King  washes  before  dinner.  Which  claim  was 
allowed  as  to  the  towel  only. 

LEWE. —  County  of  Oxon. 

Robert  de   Eylesford  holds  three  yard-lands  in   Lewe, 

in 


224  ACCOUNT   OF   SINGULAR    TENURES. 

in  the  county  of  Oxford,  of  our  lord  the  King,  by  the 
service  of  finding  a  man,  with  a  bow  and  arrows,  for  forty 
days,  at  his  own  proper  cost,  whensoever  it  should  hap- 
pen that  the  King  went  into  Wales  with  his  army. 

LOSTON. —  County  of  Devon. 

William  de  Albemarle  holds  the  manor  of  Loston,  by 
the  service  of  finding  for  our  lord  the  King,  two  arrows 
and  one  loaf  of  oat  bread,  when  he  should  hunt  in  the 
forest  of  Dartmore. 

MORTON. —  County  of  Essex. 

Henry  de  Averyng  holds  the  manor  of  Morton  in  the 
county  of  Essex,  in  capite  of  our  lord  the  King,  by  the 
serjeanty  of  finding  one  man  with  a  horse,  of  the  price  of 
ten  shillings,  and  four  horse-shoes.,  and  one  leather  sack, 
and  one  iron  jug  as  often  as  it  should  happen  for  the 
King  to  go  into  Wales  with  his  army,  at  his  own  charges 
for  forty  days. 

OVENHELLE. — County  of  Kent. 

Sir  Osbert  de  Longchamp,  Knight,  holds  certain  land 
which  is  called  Ovenhelle,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  by  the 
service  of  following  our  lord  the  King  in  his  army  into 
Wales  forty  days,  at  his  own  costs,  with  a  horse  of  the 
price  of  five  shillings,  a  sack  of  the  price  of  sixpence,  and 
with  a  needle  to  the  same  sack. 

SETENE,  or  SEAT  ox.  — County  of  Kent. 
Bertram  de  Criol  held  the  manor  of  Setene,  in  the 
county  of  Kent,  of  the  King  by  serjeanty,  viz.  to  provide 
one  man,  called  Veltrarius,  a  Vautrer,  to  lead  three  grey- 
hounds when  the  King  should  go  into  Gascony,  so  long  as 
a  pair  of  shoes  of  foiirpence  price  should  last. 

STAMFORD. —  County  of  Lincoln. 

William,  Earl  Warren,  lord  of  this  town  in  the  time 
of  King  John,  standing  upon  the  castle  walls,  saw  two 
bulls  fighting  for  a  cow  in  the  Castle  Meadow,  till  all 

the 


/    /{' 

IVesulent  oi'  lli<> 

I '  K  O  T  .1C,  sS  M-  ,\  ;v  '  |-     .A.S  S  D  ( '  L  AT   I  (j  >'  , 
In  1 1  ic  Veen  •  i  •-  AP  . 


ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR   TENURES.  225 

the  butchers'  dogs  pursued  one  of  the  bulls  (maddened  with 
the  noise  of  the  multitude)  clean  through  the  town.  This 
fight  so  well  pleased  the  Earl,  that  he  gave  Castle  Mea- 
dows, where  the  bull's  duel  began,  for  a  common  to  the 
butchers  of  the  town,  after  the  first  grass  was  mowed,  on 
condition  that  they  should  find  a  mad  bull,  the  day  six 
weeks  before  Christmas  Day,  for  the  continuance  of  that 
sport  for  ever. 

It  is  very  observable,  that  here  they  have  the  custom, 
which  Littleton,  the  famous  common-lawyer,  calls  Bo- 
rough-English,  i.  e.  the  younger  sons  inherit  what  lands  or 
tenements  their  fathers  die  possessed  of,  within  this  manor. 


Life  of  Lord   George    Gordon,    with  an    account  of  the 

alarming  Riots  in  London,  in  the  year  1780. 

With  a  Portrait  from  Life, 

JL  HERE  are  few  characters  in  whom  the  influence  and 
effects  of  fanaticism  are  more  strikingly  displayed  than  in 
the  subject  of  this  memoir;  and  considering  the  ruinous 
consequences  attendant  on  his  conduct,  few  men  have 
appeared  in  this  country  whose  names  so  richly  deserve 
the  reprobation  of  posterity. 

The  Honourable  George  Gordon,  commonly  called 
Lord  George  Gordon,  was  the  third  son  of  the  late,  and 
brother  to  the  present  Duke  of  Gordon,  and  was  born  in 
London  in  the  year  1?50.  He  entered  at  an  early  age 
into  the  navy,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant:  but 
quitted  the  service  during  the  American  war,  in  conse- 
quence of  an  altercation  with  Lord  Sandwich,  relative  to 
promotion.  About  this  time  he  was  elected  to  represent  the 
borough  of  Ludgershall,  and  distinguished  himself  by 
many  strange  and  eccentric  speeches,  on  various  sub- 
jects. As  he  animadverted  with  great  freedom,  and  often 
with  considerable  humour,  on  the  proceedings  of  both 

Eccentric,  No.  V.  G  G  sides 


226  LIFE    OF    LORD    GEORGE    GORDON. 

sides  of  the  house,  it  became  a  common  saying  tna  there 
were  three  parties  in  parliament — the  Ministry,  the  Op- 
position, and  Lord  George  Gordon. 

At  this  time  Lord  George  was  distinguished  by  the  air 
and  manners  of  a  modern  puritan  :  his  figure  was  tall  and 
meagre,  his  hair  straight  and  his  dress  plain.  The  exter- 
nal appearance  not  merely  of  moral  purity,  but  of  rigid 
sanctity,  caused  him  to  be  chosen  president  of  the  Pro- 
testant Association,  whose  object  was  to  procure  a  re- 
peal of  the  act  that  released  the  Roman  Catholics  from 
some  of  the  shameful  and  cruel  restraints  under  which 
they  had  before  groaned.  Little  notice  was  taken  of  this 
society  or  of  their  president,  whose  eccentric  character 
and  desultory  speeches,  both  in  and  out  of  parliament, 
tended  rather  to  place  the  matter  inaludricous,  than  in  a 
serious  point  of  view.  The  style  of  the  advertisements  pub- 
lished in  1780,  in  the  name  of  the  Associating  Committee, 
but  which  were  signed  only  by  the  president,  were  such  as 
might  have  been  expected  from  a  puritanic  republican  of 
the  preceding  century.  The  following  affords  a  specimen 
of  the  spirit  and  style  in  which  these  invitations  were 
written  : 

"  PROTESTANT  ASSOCIATION. 

"  This  is  to  give  notice, — That  in  compliance  with  a 
petition  addressed  to  the  president,  the  committee  have 
resolved  that  there  shall  be  another  general  meeting  of 
the  Protestants,  before  the  London  petition  is  presented 
to  the  House  of  Commons. 

"  The  petition  will  not  be  presented  this  week,  but 
will  be  kept  till  towards  the  close  of  this  session  of  par- 
liament, to  give  time  for  similar  petitions  from  other  parts 
of  England,  Wales,  and  Scotland,  to  be  presented  before 
it. 

"All  true  friends  of  Great  Britain,  and  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty,  are  exhorted  to  unite  in  support  of  the 

Protestant 


LIFE    OF    LORD    GEORGE    GORDON. 

Protestant  interest  before  it  is  too  late  ;  for  unanimity  and 
firmness  in  that  glorious  cause,  can  alone  protect  us  from 
the  dangerous  confederacy  of  Popish  powers.  If  we  unite 
like  one  man,  for  the  honour  of  God  and  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  we  may  yet  experience  the  blessing  of  Divine 
Providence  on  this  kingdom,  and  love  and  confidence 
may  again  be  restored  amongst  brethren.  But  if  we  con- 
tinue obstinate  in  error,  and  spread  idolatry  and  corrup- 
tion through  the  land,  we  have  nothing  to  expect  but 
division  among  the  people,  distraction  in  the  senate,  and 
discontent  in  our  camps,  with  all  the  other  calamities 
attendant  on  those  nations  whom  God  has  delivered  over 
to  arbitrary  power  and  despotism. 

G.  GORDON,  President. 
Welbeck  Street,  London,  May  8. 
***  "  Those  of  London  and  its  environs  who  wish  the 

7T 

repeal  of  the  late  Popish  bill,  are  desired  to  sign  the  Pro- 
testant petition,  which  they  may  have  access  to  at  the 
President's  house,  every  day  before  four  o'clock." 

The  reader  will  easily  perceive  what  were  the  leading 
features  in  the  character  of  a  man  who  could  write  the 
above  address.  The  following  is  too  intimately  connected 
with  the  subsequent  atrocities  to  be  omitted  : 

"  PROTESTANT  ASSOCIATION. 

"  Whereas  no  hall  in  London  can  contain  forty  thou- 
sand men, — Resolved,  That  this  association  do  meet  on 
Friday  next,  in  St.  George's  Fields,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  to  consider  the  most  prudent  and  respectful 
manner  of  attending  their  petition,  which  will  be  presented 
the  same  day  to  the  House  of  Commons. 

"Resolved,  for  the  sake  of  good  order  and  regularity, 
that  this  association,  on  coming  to  the  ground,  do  separate 
themselves  into  four  divisions,  viz.  the  London  division, 
the  Westminster  division,  the  Southwark  division,  and 
the  Scotch  division. 

G  G  2  •'  Resolved, 


228  LIFE    OF     LORD    GEORGE    GORDON. 

"  Resolved,  that  the  London  division  do  take  place 
upon  the  right  of  the  ground  towards  Southwark,  the 
Westminster  division  second,  the  Southwark  division  third, 
and  the  Scotch  division  upon  the  left,  all  wearing  blue 
cockades  in  their  hats,  to  distinguish  themselves  from  the 
Papists,  and  those  who  approve  of  the  late  act  in  favor  of 
Popery. 

"  Resolved,  that  the  Magistrates  of  London,  West- 
minster, and  Southwark  are  requested  to  attend,  that  their 
presence  may  overawe  and  control  any  riotous  or  evil- 
minded  persons  who  may  wish  to  disturb  the  legal  and 
peaceable  deportment  of  his  Majesty's  Protestant  sub- 
jects. 

"  By  order  of  the  Association, 
London,  May  29-  G.  GORDON,  President." 

Accordingly,  on  Friday  June  the  2d,  at  ten  in  the  fore- 
noon, a  vast  concourse  of  people  assembled,  who  after  pa- 
rading the  fields  with  flags,  and  singing  hymns,  marshal- 
ed themselves  in  ranks  and  waited  for  their  leader.  Lord 
George  arrived  about  eleven,  and  at  noon  proceeded  to- 
wards Westminister  bridge,  followed  by  a  large  party  of 
his  adherents,  while  the  remainder  went  round  in  two 
bodies  over  London  and  Blackfriars  bridges.  A  huge 
roll  of  parchment  almost  as  much  as  one  man  could 
carry,  containing  the  signatures  of  the  petitioners  was 
borne  before  them.  At  about  half  past  two  the  whole 
body  had  assembled  before  both  houses  of  Parliament, 
after  behaving  in  a  peaceful  and  orderly  manner  by  the 
way. 

However  well-disposed  some  of  them  might  be,  it  was 
evident  from  the  habit  and  appearance  of  numbers  that 
order  and  regularity  could  not  long  be  expected  from  such 
an  assembly  ;  on  the  contrary  they  soon  proceeded  to  the 
most  outrageous  acts  of  violence  against  both  Lords  and 

Commons. 


LIFE    OF    LORD    GEORGE    GORDON.  229 

Commons.  They  obliged  almost  all  the  members  to  put 
blue  cockades  in  their  hats  and  call  out,  "  No  Popery  !" 
Some  they  compelled  to  take  oaths  to  vote  for  the  repeal 
of  the  obnoxious  act,  and  others  they  insulted  in  the 
most  violent  and  indecent  manner.  They  took  possession 
of  all  the  avenues  from  the  entrance  to  the  very  door  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  which  they  twice  attempted  to 
force  open  ;  and  in  a  similar  attempt  on  the  House  of 
Lords,  they  were  equally  unsuccessful. 

In  the  House  of  Commons  the  attention  of  the  mem- 
bers was  occupied  during  the  greatest  part  of  the  day  by 
debates  concerning  the  mob.  When  some  degree  of 

O  *— ' 

order  was  obtained,  Lord  George  introduced  his  business 
by  informing  the  house  that  he  had  before  him  a  petition 
signed  by  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  of  his 
Majesty's  Protestant  subjects,  praying  for  the  repeal  of 
the  act  in  favour  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  severally 
moved  to  have  it  brought  up  and  taken  into  immediate 
consideration.  Both  these  motions  were  seconded  by 
Alderman  Bull,  and  during  the  debate  on  the  subject, 
Lord  George  went  several  times  to  the  top  of  the  gallery 
stairs,  whence  he  harangued  the  people,  and  informed 
them  what  success  their  petition  was  likely  to  meet  with. 
He  first  told  them  that  it  was  proposed  to  take  it  into 
consideration  on  the  following  Tuesday  in  a  committee  of 
the  house,  but  that  he  did  not  like  delays,  as  the  parlia- 
ment might  by  that  time  be  prorogued.  He  came  once 
more  and  said  he  saw  little  reason  to  hope  for  redress 
from  the  decision  of  parliament ;  that  they  should  meet 
again,  that  they  ought  not  to  despair,  but  to  put  their 
trust  in  providence.  He  came  a  third  time,  and  said  : 
"  Gentlemen,  the  alarm  has  gone  forth  for  many  miles 
round  the  city.  You  have  got  a  very  good  prince,  who 
as  soon  as  he  shall  hear  that  the  alarm  has  seized  such  a 

number 


230  LIFE    OF    LORD    GEORGE    GORDON. 

number  of  men  will  no  doubt  send  down  private  orders  to 
his  ministers  to  enforce  the  prayer  of  your  petition." 

It  is  said,  that  while  the  mob  was  raging  and  roaring 
in  the  lobby,  General  Conway  seated  himself  beside  Lord 
George,  and  addressed  him  to  the  following  purpose: — 
"  My  lord,  I  am  a  military  man,  and  I  shall  think  it  my 
duty  to  protect  the  freedom  of  debate  in  this  house  by 
my  sword ;  you  see,  my  lord,  the  members  of  this  house 
are  this  day,  all  in  arms.  Do  not  imagine  that  we  will 
be  overpowered  or  intimidated  by  a  rude,  undisciplined, 
unprincipled  rabble.  There  is  only  one  entry  into  the 
house  of  Commons,  and  that  is  a  narrow  one.  Reflect  that 
men  of  honor  may  defend  this  pass ;  and  that  certainly 
many  lives  will  be  lost  before  we  will  suffer  ourselves  to 
be  overawed  by  your  adherents.  I  wish  in  one  word,  my 
lord,  to  know  whether  it  is  your  intention  to  bring  those 
men,  whose  wild  uproar  now  strikes  our  ears,  within  the 
walls  of  this  house."  General  Conway  had  scarcely  done 
speaking,  when  Colonel  Murray,  a  near  relation  of  his 
lordship  advanced,  and  accosted  him  in  the  following 
manner : — "  My  Lord  George,  do  you  intend  to  bring 
your  rascally  adherents  into  the  House  of  Commons  ? 
If  you  do — the  first  man  of  them  that  enters,  I  will  plunge 
my  sword  not  into  his,  but  into  your  body." — It  is  said, 
that  Lord  George  was  much  intimidated  by  these  menaces, 
and  it  was  in  consequence  of  them  that  he  desired  the 
populace  to  be  quiet,  and  to  trust  to  the  goodness  of  their 
cause  and  to  his  Majesty's  clemency  and  justice. 

The  mob  on  dispersing  from  Palace  Yard,  repaired 
partly  to  the  Catholic  chapel  in  Duke-street,  Lincoln's 
Inn,  and  partly  to  that  in  Warwick-street,  Golden-square, 
which  they  demolished.  This  outrage  was  succeeded 
during  the  following  days  by  the  destruction  of  all  the 
Catholic  chapels  and  mass-houses,  as  well  as  the  private 

habitations 


LIFE    OF    LORD    GEORGE    GORDON.  231 

habitations  of  persons  of  that  religion.     The  prisons  were 
the  next  objects  of  their  vengeance ;  Newgate,  the  Fleet, 
the  King's  Bench,  the  New  Bridewell  in   St.    George's 
Fields,  and  the  New  Prison,  Clerkenwell,  were  totally  de- 
molished, and  the  prisoners,  to  the  number  of  2000,  set  at 
liberty.     The   houses    of   Sir    George  Savile,   Sir   John 
Fielding,  the  Justices  Hyde,  Wilmot,  and  Cox,  and  many 
other  private  individuals,  among  whom  were  those  who  had 
been  active  in  apprehending  and  giving  evidence  against 
the  rioters,  were  either  plundered  or  burned.     Lord  Mans- 
field's   residence    in    Bloomsbury-square,    likewise  fell  a 
sacrifice  to  their  fury  ;  his  lordship's  library  containing  a 
great  number  of  valuable  manuscripts,  and  among  the 
rest  two    hundred  note-books  in  his  own  hand  writing, 
was  burned  ;  and  his  fine  collection  of  pictures  shared  the 
same  fate.     The  scene  presented  by  the  conflagration  of 
the  houses  belonging  to  Mr.  Langdale,  an  eminent  distil- 
ler, at  the  bottom  and  middle  of  Holborn,  was  horrible  be- 
yond   description,  the    fury  of  the  flames  being  greatly 
increased  by  the   vast   quantity  of  spirits  they  contained. 
The  Bank,  the   Inns  of  Court,  the  Arsenal  at  Woolwich, 
and  the  Royal  Palaces  were  threatened,  and  such  was  the 
universal  stupor  which  had  seized  the  inhabitants  of  the 
metropolis,  that  it  is  possible  the  brutal  populace  might 
have  succeeded    in  their  attempts,  had  not  government 
proclaimed  martial  law,  and  released  the  military  from  all 
dependance   on   the  civil  authority.     What  numbers  re- 
ceived their  deaths  from  the  hands  of  the  soldiers  amidst 
these  dreadful  scenes  it  is  impossible  to  state  with   cer- 
tainty, but  more  are  said  to  have  destroyed  themselves  by 
inebriety,  in   which  condition  they  were  burned  or  buried 
in  the  ruins  of  their  own  making.     This  was  particularly 
the  case  at  the  distilleries  of  Mr.   Langdale,  from  whose 
vessels  the  liquor  ran  down  the  middle  of  the  street,  and 
being  taken  up  by  pailfuls  was  held  to  the  mouths  of  the 

besotted 


232         LIFE  OF  LORD  GEORGE  GORDON. 

besotted  multitude,  many  of  whom  killed  themselves  with 
drinking  non-rectified  spirits.  In  the  streets  men  were 
seen  lying  upon  bulks  and  stalls  in  a  state  of  brutal  insen- 
sibility and  contempt  of  danger  :  boys  and  women  were  in 
the  same  condition,  and  many  of  the  latter  with  infants  in 
their  arms. 

At  length  after  the  metropolis  had  been  for  nearly  a 
week  at  the  control  of  a  lawless  rabble,  peace  and  order 
were  again  restored  by  the  exertions  of  the  military,  sta- 
tioned in  the  most  important  parts  of  the  town.  The 
militia  and  troops  for  thirty  miles  round  had  been  sent  for ; 
so  that  London  and  its  neighbourhood  was  now  awed  by 
a  force  of  20,000  men  ;  which  proved  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  quell  disturbances  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of 
the  country,  and  which  had  endangered  the  very  exist- 
ence of  the  empire. 

In  the  heat  of  his  too  successful  enthusiasm,  Lord 
George  wrote  a  letter,  which  he  sent  for  insertion  to  the 
conductor  of  a  morning  paper.  In  this  letter,  addressed 
to  his  religious  associates,  he  recommended  them  to  nou- 
rish the  noble  spirit  that  had  so  laudably  taken  possession 
of  them,  and  told  them  that  he  did  not  in  the  smallest 
degree  doubt  that  an  unlimited  compliance  with  all 
their  requisitions,  would  be  the  consequence  of  this 
perseverance.  At  the  same  time  he  annexed  a  kind  of 
exhortation  for  the  preservation  of  peace  and  good 
order;  but  as  this  concluding  suggestion  was  too  re- 
pugnant to  the  general  tenor  of  the  epistle,  and  far 
too  faintly  urged  to  produce  an  adequate  effect,  the 
printer  deemed  it  the  best  step  he  could  take  for  the  wel- 
fare and  quiet  of  the  country,  to  send  a  copy  of  the  let- 
ter to  government,  which  he  accordingly  did,  in  a  note 
to  Lord  Hillsborough.  A  cabinet  council  was  imme- 
diately convened,  and  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of 
the  members,  that  the  letter  was  of  a  very  inflammable 

tendency 


LIFE    OF    LORD    GEORGE    GORDON.  233 

tendency,  and   that  the  author  was  undoubtedly  amena- 
ble to  the  laws,  as  the  promoter  of  a  traitorous  and  un- 
constitutional sedition.     An  order  was  immediately  issued 
to   the    post-office,   directing   that    all  letters  franked  by 
his  lordship,  should    be   detained,  and    several    were    in 
consequence  stopped.       Most   of  them   were  directed  to 
Scotland,  and  were  replete  with  observations  equally  sub- 
versive of  order,  religion,  and  liberty.       In  speaking  of 
the  transactions  which  had  taken  place  in  the  metropolis, 
he  seemed  to  exult  in   their  issue,  as  these  epistles  were 
pervaded  with  rapturous  encomiums   on    the    "  glorious 
cause,"  and  the  noble  spirit   displayed  by  his  brethren  in 
its  support.     Their  uniform  tendency  determined  the  ca- 
binet as  to  the  necessity  of  taking  the  author  into  custody, 
and  orders  were  given  for   that   purpose  on  Friday,  June 
9th.     He  was  first  taken  before  the  council  assembled  at 
the   War-office.      A   long  examination    took    place,  the 
result  of  which  left  no  doubt  on  the  minds  of  all  present, 
that   his  lordship  had   been   principally   instrumental  in 
convening    the   riotous    multitude,  which  for   six  several 
days  and  nights,  infested  the  streets  of  the  metropolis  : 
and  that  he  had  been  by  his  speeches,  &c.   abetting  in 
producing  the  great  and  irreparable  mischief  to  his  Ma- 
jesty's loyal  and   faithful  subjects  which  had  subsequently 
arisen.     An  order   was,  therefore,   given   for  his  commit- 
ment to  the  Tower,  whither  he   was  conducted  the  same 
night  under  a  remarkably  strong  guard,  said  to  be  far  the 
most  numerous  that  ever  escorted    a%  state-prisoner.      A 
large   party  of  infantry  was  in   the  front.     His  Lordship 
followed   in  a  coach  in  which  were   two  officers.      Two 
soldiers   rode  behind   the  coach,    and   they   were   imme- 
diately followed  by  General  Carpenter's  regiment  of  dra- 
goons.    After  them  came  a  colonel's  guard   of  the   foot 
guards,  and  a  strong  party  of  militia  marched  on  each 
side  of  the  carriage. 

Eccentric,  No.  V.  H  H  This 


234  LIFE    OF    LORD    GEORGE    GORDON. 

This  circumstance  soon  rang  through  London,  and  so 
universally  was  he  deemed  the  original  author  and  pro- 
moter of  the  riots,  that  few  were  found  to  pity  him.  A 
thousand  surmises  were  circulated,  such  as  whether  he 
had  heen  prompted  by  religion,  avarice,  or  ambition,  and 
whether  he  had  been  instigated  by  France  or  any  foreign 
power ;  while  the  more  candid  and  discerning  imagined 
that  he  had  been  actuated  rather  by  a  wrong  head  than  a 
wicked  heart. 

Of  the  latter  opinion  were  likewise  the  jury  assembled 
to  try  his  lordship  for  high-treason,  in  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  on  Monday  the  5th  of  February,  1781. 
About  half  past  seven  in  the  morning,  he  came  down 
from  his  apartment  to  the  parade  in  the  Tower,  and  walk- 
ed towards  a  coach,  which  was  waiting  with  two  ladies 
in  it.  The  governor  of  the  Tower  endeavoured  to  pre- 
vent him  by  calling  out :  "  My  Lord,  you  must  not :" — 
His  lordship's  feelings,  however,  were  too  strong  to  per- 
mit him  to  obey  any  other  command  ;  he  walked  forward 
to  the  coach,  addressed  the  ladies,  and  took  one  of  them 
by  the  hand  ;  the  conversation  was  short,  and  the  lady, 
who  was  his  sister,  the  Countess  of  Westmoreland,  wept 
much.  He  was  then  conducted  to  Westminster  Hall  : 
the  trial  began  at  half  past  eight,  and  the  jury  at  five  the 
following  •morning  brought  in  their  verdict  of  Not  Guilty. 

In  1786,  his  lordship  was  excommunicated  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  for  contempt  of  Court,  in  not 
appearing  as  a  witness  in  a  cause.  In  January,  1788,  he 
was  found  guilty  of  publishing  a  libel  on  the  ambassador 
and  queen  of  France,  and  to  avoid  the  sentence  of  the 
law,  he  fled  to  Holland.  His  restless  spirit  not  long 
afterwards  brought  him  back  to  England;  he  was  taken 
in  the  habit  of  a  Jew,  having  adopted  the  Jewish  religion, 
and  committed  to  Newgate. 

In  July, 1789,  lie  presented  a  petition  to  the  National 

Assembly 


MISCELLANEOUS    GLEANINGS.  235 

Assembly  of  France,  for  its  interference  in  his  behalf,  but 
Lord  Grenville  informed  the  French  ambassador,  that 
such  interference  could  not  be  admitted.  From  that  time, 
the  dreary  hours  of  his  confinement  were  principally  passed 
in  reading.  His  conduct  to  his  fellow-prisoners  was 
beneficent,  and  proved  that  his  heart  was  alive  to  the  im- 
pressions of  sensibility.  Lord  George  died  Nov.  1,  1793, 
in  Newgate,  where  he  had  been  confined  two  years,  for 
his  libel  on  the  moral  and  political  conduct  of  the  Queen 
of  France  ;  three  years  more  for  a  libel  on  the  Empress 
of  Russia  ;  and  ten  months  longer  for  not  procuring  the 
necessary  security  for  his  enlargement.  His  last  moments 
are  said  to  have  been  embittered  by  the  knowledge  that 
he  could  not  be  buried  among  the  Jews,  to  whose  religion 
he  was  warmly  attached,  and  whose  ceremonies  and  cus- 
toms he  had  rigidly  observed. 

O  •/ 

On  perusing  the  events  of  the  life  of  Lord  George 
Gordon,  we  are  naturally  led  to  lament  that  the  zeal  and 
perseverance  he  possessed,  were  not  directed  to  a  better 
object.  Those  qualities  might  then  have  rendered  him  an 
useful  and  estimable  member  of  that  society,  which  his 
conduct,  whether  proceeding  from  a  perversion  of  intel- 
lect, or  of  heart,  tended  only  to  disturb  and  embroil. 


T 


MISCELLANEOUS  GLEANINGS. No.  II. 

Prodigious  Hail  Stones. 

HE  day  before  the  dreadful  tempest  which  happened  at 
Seighford,  in  the  county  of  Stafford,  July  3,  1719.  the 
air  was  dusky  and  cloudy,  and  the  sun  through  the  dense 
vapours  appeared  of  a  colour  as  red  as  blood.  The  next 
morning  was  hot  and  clear,  and  the  day  so  continued  till 
about  two  in  the  afternoon,  when  in  an  instant,  the  clouds 
began  to  rise  in  the  west,  and  a  soft  shower  followed. 

H  H  2  After 


236  MISCELLANEOUS   GLEANINGS. 

After  this  a  storm  came  out  of  the  north  which  soon  over- 
spread the  sky,  and  a  little  past  four  ended  in  a  most 
dreadful  tempest  of  hail.  The  stones  were  of  various 
sizes,  shapes  and  figures,  and  of  a  monstrous  and  immense 
size.  They  seemed  to  be  fragments  of  some  huge  cylin- 
drical body  of  ice,  broken  and  dashed  to  pieces  in  the 
fall,  vast  numbers  of  which  measured  five  or  six  inches  in 
circumference,  and  several  measured  nine,  ten,  and  eleven 
inches,  even  a  considerable  time  after  the  storm  was  over. 

Extraordinary  young  Murderer. 

William  York,  a  boy  ten  years  old,  was  committed  to 
Ipswich  gaol  on  Monday  the  16th  of  May,  1748,  for  the 
murder  of  Susan  Mayhew,  a  child  about  five,  who  was  his 
bed-fellow  in  the  poor-house  belonging  to  the  parish  of 
Eyke.  He  then  confessed  that  a  trifling  quarrel  happen- 
ing between  them  on  the  13th,  about  ten  in  the  morning, 
he  struck  her  with  his  open  hand  and  made  her  cry ;  that 
she  going  out  of  the  house  to  the  dung-hill,  opposite  to 
the  door,  he  followed  her  with  a  hook  in  his  hand  with  an 
intent  to  kill  her,  but  before  he  came  up  to  her  he  set 
down  the  hook  and  went  into  the  house  for  a  knife.  He 
then  came  out  again,  took  hold  of  the  girl's  left  hand,  and 
cut  her  wrist  and  just  above  the  elbow  of  the  same  arm, 
all  round  to  the  bone ;  that  after  this  he  set  his  foot  upon 
her  stomach,  and  cut  her  right  arm  round  about  and  to 
the  bone,  both  on  the  wrist  and  on  the  elbow ;  that  he 
then  thought  she  would  not  die-,  and  therefore  took  the 
hook,  and  cut  her  left  ham  to  the  bone,  and  observing 
she  ivas  not  dead  yet,  struck  her  about  three  times  on  the 
head  with  the  hook  broad-ways,  and  then  found  she  was 
dead.  His  next  care  was  to  conceal  the  murder,  and  the 
manner  in  \vhich  he  attempted  to  do  it  was  astonishing 
for  a  youth  of  his  age;  for  this  purpose  he  filled  a  pail 
with  water  at  a  ditch,  and  washed  the  blood  off  the  child's 
body,  buried  it  in  tho  dung-hill,  together  with  the  blood 

that 


MISCELLANEOUS    GLEANINGS.  237 

that  was  spilt  on  the  ground,  and  made  the  dung-hill  as 
smooth  as  he  could  ;  afterwards  he  washed  the  knife  and 
hook  and  carried  them  into  the  house,  washed  the  blood 
off  Ins  own  clothes,  hid  the  child's  clothes  in  an  old  cham- 
ber, and  then  came  down  and  got  his  breakfast.  When 
he  was  examined  he  shewed  very  little  concern,  and  ap- 
peared easy  and  cheerful.  All  that  he  alleged  was  that 
the  child  fouled  the  bed  in  which  they  lay  together,  that 
she  was  sulky  and  that  he  did  not  like  her. 
Unusual  Phenomenon. 

Between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  of  the  night  of  February 
28th,  1750,  was  seen  at  Salisbury,  an  unusual  Pheno- 
menon, being  a  very  numerous  collection  of  vapours, 
that  formed  an  irregular  arch,  like  rock  work,  and  ex- 
tended across  the  horizon,  waving  like  flames  issuing 
from  fire ;  after  a  short  continuance,  it  disappeared  at 
once,  the  sky  being  very  clear  and  more  enlightened 
than  by  the  stars  only. 

Animal  Courage. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  action  which  took  place 
between  the  Nymph  and  Cleopatra,  in  1793,  there  was  a 
large  Newfoundland  clog  on  board  the  former  vessel, 
which  the  moment  the  firing  began,  ran  from  below 
deck,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  men  to  keep  him  down, 
and  climbing-  up  into  the  main  chains,  he  there  kept  up  a 
continual  barking,  and  exhibited  the  most  violent  rage 
during  the  whole  of  the  engagement.  When  the  Cleo- 
patra struck,  he  was  among  the  foremost  to  board  her, 
and  then  walked  up  and  down  the  decks,  seemingly  con- 
scious of  the  victory  he  had  gained. 
Animal  Adoption. 

The  following  singular  instance  of  animal  adoption  oc- 
curred in  February  1794,  at  the  seat  of  J.  Spurling,  Esq. 
at  Dyson's  Hall,  in  Essex :  A  favourite  spaniel  bitch,  re- 
markable as  a  sure  finder,  having  her  puppies  drowned, 

went 


238  PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES. 

went  out  one  morning  into  the  plantations,  and  soon  after 
returned  with  a  young  leveret  about  a  week  old,  in  her 
mouth,  to  which  she  gave  suck,  and  affectionately  con- 
tinued so  to  do  for  ten  days,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  the 
gentlemen  and  others  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Large  Hog. 

"As  fat  as  a  hog,"  is  a  very  common  expression,  yet, 
perhaps  very  few  who  use  it  have  any  notion  of  that  ani- 
mal attaining  to  a  size  answering  to  the  following  admea- 
surement of  a  Swine,  while  alive  and  feeding,  in  March 
1795,  at  Mr.  Cooper's  at  Shelford,  in  the  county  of  Not- 
tingham: length,  from  nose-end  to  tail-end,  seven  feet 
eleven  inches  and  a  half;  ditto,  from  head  to  tail,  six  feet 
four  inches :  in  breadth  over  the  shoulders,  from  leg  to 
leg,  five  feet  six  inches  ;  girt  behind  the  shoulders,  six 
feet  eleven  inches ;  ditto  over  the  belly,  eight  feet  one 
inch.  Its  bone  was  very  small,  though  of  the  long-eared 
breed. 


Miraculous  Preservation  of  the  Lives  of  Two  Missionaries 
on  the  Coast  of  Labrador. 

1VJ.R.  SAMUEL  LIEBISCH,  being  entrusted  with  the  gene- 
ral care  of  the  missions  of  the  United  Brethren,  better 
known  by  the  name  of  Moravians,  on  the  coast  of  La- 
brador, the  duties  of  his  office  required  a  visit  to  Okkak, 
the  most  northern  of  their  three  settlements  in  that 
country,  and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  English  miles 
distant  from  Xain,  the  place  where  he  resided.  William 
Turner  being  appointed  to  accompany  him,  they  left 
Nain  on  March  the  llth,  1782,  early  in  the  morning, 
with  very  clear  weather,  the  stars  shining  with  uncom- 
mon lustre.  The  sledge  was  driven  by  the  baptized 
Esquimaux  Mark,  and  another  sledge  with  Esquimaux 
joined  company. 

The 


PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES.  239 

The  two  sledges  contained  five  men,  one  woman,  and 
a  child.  All  were  in  good  spirits,  and  appearances 
being  much  in  their  favour,  they  hoped  to  reach  Okkak  in 
safety  in  two  or  three  days.  The  track  over  the  frozen 
sea  was  in  the  best  possible  order,  and  they  went  with 
ease  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour.  After 
they  had  passed  the  islands  in  the  bay  of  Nain,  they  kept 
at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  coast,  both  to  gain 
the  smoothest  part  of  the  ice,  and  to  weather  the  high 
rocky  promontory  of  Kiglapeit.  About  eight  o'clock 
they  met  a  sledge  with  Esquimaux  turning  in  from  the 
sea.  After  the  usual  salutations,  the  Esquimaux  alight- 
ing, held  some  conversation,  as  is  their  general  prac- 
tice, the  result  of  which  was,  that  some  hints  were 
thrown  out  by  the  strange  Esquimaux,  that  it  might  be 
as  well  to  return.  However,  as  the  missionaries  saw  no 
reason  for  it,  and  only  suspected  that  the  Esquimaux 
wished  to  enjoy  the  company  of  their  friends  a  little 
longer,  they  proceeded.  After  some  time  their  own 
Esquimaux  hinted,  that  there  was  a  ground-swell  under 
the  ice.  It  was  then  hardly  perceptible,  except  on  lying 
down,  and  applying  the  ear  close  to  the  ice,  when  a 
hollow,  disagreeable,  grating  and  roaring  noise,  was  heard, 
as  if  ascending  from  the  abyss.  The  weather  remained 
clear,  except  towards  the  east,  where  a  bank  of  light 
clouds  appeared,  interspersed  with  some  dark  streaks.  But 
the  wind  being  strong  from  the  north-west,  nothing  less 
than  a  sudden  change  of  weather  was  expected. 

The  sun  had  now  reached  its  height,  and  there  was  as 
yet  little  or  no  alteration  in  the  appearance  of  the  sky.  But 
the  motion  of  the  sea  under  the  ice  had  grown  more  per- 
ceptible, so  as  rather  to  alarm  the  travellers,  and  they 
began  to  think  it  prudent  to  keep  closer  to  the  shore.  The 
ice  had  cracks  and  fissures  in  many  places,  some  of  which 
formed  chasms  of  one  or  two  feet  wide  ;  but  as  they  are 

not 


240  PRESERVATION  OF  TWO  MISSIONARIES. 

not  uncommon  even  in  its  best  state,  and  the  dogs  easily 
leap  over  them,  the  sledge  following  without  danger, 
they  are  only  terrible  to  new  comers. 

As  soon  as  the  sun  declined  towards  the  west,  the 
wind  encreased  and  rose  to  a  storm,  the  bank  of  clouds 
from  the  east  began  to  ascend,  and  the  dark  streaks 
to  put  themselves  in  motion  against  the  wind.  The 
snow  was  violently  driven  about  by  partial  whirlwinds, 
both  on  the  ice  and  from  off  the  peaks  of  the  high 
mountains,  and  filled  the  air.  At  the  same  time  the 
ground-swell  had  encreased  so  much,  that  its  effects  upon 
the  ice  became  very  extraordinary  and  alarming.  The 
sledges  instead  of  gliding  along  smoothly  upon  an  even 
surface,  sometimes  ran  with  violence  after  the  dogs,  and 
shortly  after  seemed  with  difficulty  to  ascend  the  rising 
hill ;  for  the  elasticity  of  so  vast  a  body  of  ice,  of  many 
leagues  square,  supported  by  a  troubled  sea,  though  in 
some  places  three  or  four  yards  in  thickness,  would  in 
some  degree,  occasion  an  undulatory  motion,  not  unlike 
that  of  a  sheet  of  paper  accommodating  itself  to  the 
surface  of  a  rippling  stream.  Noises  were  now  likewise 
distinctly  heard  in  many  directions,  like  the  report  of 
cannon,  owing  to  the  bursting  of  the  ice  at  some  dis- 
tance. 

The  Esquimaux  therefore  drove  with  all  haste  towards 
the  shore,  intending  to  take  up  their  night  quarters  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Uivak.  But  as  it  plainly  appeared 
that  the  ice  would  break  and  disperse  in  the  open  sea, 
Mark  advised  to  push  forward  to  the  north  of  Uivak, 
from  whence  he  hoped  the  track  to  Okkak  might  still  re- 
main entire.  To  this  proposal  the  company  agreed  :  but 
when  the  sledges  approached  the  coast,  the  appearance 
was  truly  terrific.  The  ice  having  broken  loose  from  the 
rocks,  was  forced  up  and  down,  grinding  and  breaking 
into  a  thousand  pieces  against  the  precipices  with  a  tre- 

mendou8 


PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES.  '241 

mendous  noise;  which,  added  to  the  raging  of  the 
winds,  and  the  snow  driving  about  in  the  air,  almost  de- 
prived the  travellers  of  the  power  of  hearing  and  seeing 
any  thing  distinctly.  To  make  the  land  at  any  risk  was 
now  the  only  hope  left :  but  it  was  with  the  utmost  diffi- 
culty the  frightened  dogs  could  be  forced  forward,  the 
whole  body  of  ice  sinking  frequently  below  the  surface 
of  the  rocks,  then  rising  above  it.  As  the  only  moment  to 
land  was  that  when  it  gained  the  level  of  the  coast,  the 
attempt  was  extremely  nice  and  hazardous.  However, 
by  God's  mercy,  it  succeeded  ;  both  sledges  gained  the 
shore,  and  were  drawn  up  the  beach  with  much  difficulty. 

The  travellers  had  hardly  time  to  reflect  with  grati- 
tude to  God  on  their  safety,  when  that  part  of  the  ice, 
from  which  they  had  just  now  made  good  their  landing, 
burst  asunder,  and  the  water  forcing  itself  from  below, 
covered  and  precipitated  it  into  the  sea.  In  an  instant, 
as  if  by  a  signal  given,  the  whole  mass  of  ice,  extending 
for  several  miles  from  the  coast,  and  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  began  to  burst  and  to  be  overwhelmed  by 
the  immense  waves. — The  sight  was  tremendous  and  aw- 
fully grand  ;  the  large  fields  of  ice  raising  themselves  out 
of  the  water,  striking  against  each  other,  and  plunging 
into  the  deep,  with  a  violence  not  to  be  described,  and  a 
noise  like  the  discharge  of  innumerable  batteries  of  heavy 
guns.  The  darkness  of  the  night,  the  roaring  of  the 
wind  and  sea,  and  the  dashing  of  the  waves  and  ice 
against  the  rocks,  filled  the  travellers  with  a  sensation  of 
awe  and  horror,  so  as  almost  to  deprive  them  of  the  power 
of  utterance.  They  stood  overwhelmed  with  astonishment 
at  their  miraculous  escape,  and  even  the  heathen  Esqui- 
maux expressed  gratitude  to  God  for  their  deliverance. 

The  Esquimaux  now  began  to  build  a  snow-house 
about  thirty  paces  from  the  beach ;  but  before  they  had 

Eccentric,  No.    VI.  \  i  finished 


242  PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES. 

finished  their  work,  the  waves  reached  the  place  where  the 
sledges  were  secured,  and  they  were  with  difficulty  saved 
from  heing  washed  into  the  sea. 

Ahout  nine  o'clock  all  of  them  crept  into  the  snow- 
house1,  thanking  God  for  this  place  of  refuge,  for  the 
wind  was  piercing  cold,  and  so  violent  that  it  required 
great  strength  to  be  able  to  stand  against  it. 

Before  they  entered  this  habitation,  they  could  not 
help  once  more  turning  to  the  sea,  which  was  now  free  of 
ice,  and  beheld  with  horror,  mingled  with  gratitude  for 
their  safety,  the  enormous  waves  driving  furiously  before 
the  wind,  like  huge  castles,  and  approaching  the  shore 
where,  with  dreadful  noise,  they  dashed  against  the 
rocks,  foaming  and  filling  the  air  with  the  spray.  The 
whole  company  lay  down  to  rest  about  ten  o'clock.  They 
lay  so  close,  that,  if  any  one  stirred,  his  neighbours 
were  roused  by  it.  The  Esquimaux  were  soon  fast  asleep; 
but  Samuel  Liebisch  could  not  get  any  rest. 

His  wakefulness  proved  the  deliverance  of  the  whole 
party  from  sudden  destruction.  About  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  he  perceived  some  salt  water  to  drop  from 
the  roof  of  the  snow-house  upon  his  lips.  Though  ra- 
ther a  larmed  on  tasting  the  salt,  which  could  not  pro- 
ceed from  a  common  spray,  he  kept  quiet  till  the  same 
dropping  being  more  frequently  repeated,  just  as  he  was 
about  to  give  the  alarm,  on  a  sudden  a  tremendous  surf 
broke  close  to  the  house,  discharging  a  quantity  of  water 
into  it ;  a  second  soon  followed  and  carried  away  the 
slab  of  snow,  placed  as  a  door  before  the  entrance. 
The  Missionaries  immediately  called  aloud  to  the  sleep- 
ing Esquimaux,  to  ri>e  and  quit  the  place.  They  jumped 
up  in  an  instant ;  one  of  them  with  a  large  knife  cut  a 
passage  through  the  side  of  the  house  ;  and  each  seizing 
some  part  of  the  baggage,  it  was  thrown  out  upon  a 
higher  part  of  the  beach.  William  Turner  assisting  the 

Esquimaux 


PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES.  243 

Esquimaux  :  Samuel  Liebisch  and  the  woman  and  child 
fled  to  a  neighbouring  eminence.  The  latter  were  wrap- 
ped up  by  the  Esquimaux  in  a  large  skin,  and  the  former 
took  shelter  behind  a  rock  :  for  it  was  impossible  to  stand 
against  the  wind,  snow,  and  sleet.  Scarcely  had  the 
company  retreated  to  this  eminence,  when  an  enormous 
wave  carried  away  the  whole  house ;  but  nothing  of  con- 
sequence was  lost. 

They  now  found  themselves  a  second  time  delivered 
from  the  most  imminent  danger  of  death  :  but  the  re- 
maining part  of  the  night,  before  the  Esquimaux  could 
seek  and  find  another  more  safe  place  for  a  snow-house, 
were  hours  of  great  trial  to  mind  and  body,  and  filled 
every  one  with  painful  reflections.  Before  the  day 
dawned  the  Esquimaux  cut  a  hole  into  a  large  drift  of 
snow,  to  screen  the  woman  and  child  and  the  two  mis- 
sionaries. Samuel  Liebisch,  however,  could  not  bear 
the  closeness  of  the  air,  and  was  obliged  to  sit  down  at  the 
entrance,  where  the  Esquimaux  covered  him  with  skins 
to  keep  him  warm. 

As  soon  as  it  was  light,  they  built  another  snow-house  ; 
and,  miserable  as  such  an  accommodation  is  at  all  times, 
they  were  glad  and  thankful  to  creep  into  it.  It  was 
about  eight  feet  square,  and  six  or  seven  feet  high.  They 
now  congratulated  each  other  on  their  deliverance,  but 
found  themselves  in  very  bad  plight. 

The  missionaries  had  taken  but  a  small  stock  of  pro- 
visions with  them,  merely  sufficient  for  the  short  journey 
to  Okkak.  Joel,  his  wife  and  child,  and  Kassigiak  the  sor- 
cerer, had  nothing  at  all.  They  were  obliged  to  divide 
the  small  stock  into  daily  portions,  especially  as  there 
appeared  no  hopes  of  soon  quitting  this  place  and  reaching 
any  dwellings.  Only  two  ways  were  left  for  this  purpose, 
either  to  attempt  the  land  passage  across  the  wild  and  un- 
frequented mountain  Kiglapeit,  or  to  wait  for  a  new  ice 

i   i   2  track 


'244  PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES. 

track  over  the  sea,  which  it  might  require  much  time  to 
form.  They  therefore  resolved  to  serve  out  no  more  than  a 
biscuit  and  a  half  per  man  per  day.  But  as  this  would 
not  by  any  means  satisfy  an  Esquimaux's  stomach,  the 
missionaries  offered  to  give  one  of  their  dogs  to  be  killed 
for  them,  on  condition  that,  in  case  distress  obliged  them 
to  resort  again  to  that  expedient,  the  next  dog  killed 
should  be  one  of  the  Esquimaux's  teams.  They  replied 
that  they  should  be  glad  of  it,  if  they  had  a  kettle  to  boil 
the  flesh  in  ;  but  as  that  was  not  the  case,  they  must  even 
suffer  hunger,  for  they  could  not,  even  now,  eat  dog's 
flesh  in  its  raw  state.  The  missionaries  now  remained 
in  the  snow-house,  and  every  day  endeavoured  to  boil  so 
much  water  over  their  lamp,  as  might  serve  them  for 
two  dishes  of  coffee  a  piece.  Through  mercy  they  were 
preserved  in  good  health.  The  Esquimaux  also  kept  up 
their  spirits,  and  even  the  rough  heathen  Kissigiak  de- 
clared that  it  was  proper  to  be  thankful,  that  they  were 
still  alive  ;  adding  that  if  they  had  remained  a  very  little 
longer  upon  the  ice  yesterday,  all  their  bones  would  have 
been  broken  to  pieces  in  a  short  time.  He  had  however 
his  heels  frozen  and  suffered  considei'able  pain. 

Towards  noon  of  the  thirteenth,  the  weather  cleared  up, 
and  the  sea  was  seen  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  quite 
free  from  ice.  Mark  and  Joel  went  up  the  hills  to  recon- 
noitre, and  returned  with  the  disagreeable  news,  that 
not  even  a  morsel  of  ice  was  to  be  seen,  even  from  thence, 
in  any  direction,  and  that  it  had  even  been  forced  away 
from  the  coast  at  Nuasornak.  They  were  therefore  of 
opinion,  that  they  could  do  nothing  but  force  their  way 
across  the  mountain  Kiglapeit. 

To-day  Kissigiak  complained  much  of  hunger,  pro- 
bably to  obtain  from  the  missionaries  a  larger  portion 
than  the  common  allowance.  They  represented  to  him. 

that 


PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES.  245 

that  they  had  no  more  themselves,  and  reproved  him  for 
his  impatience.     Whenever  the  victuals  were  distributed, 
he  always  swallowed  his  portion  very  greedily,  and  put 
out  his  hand  for  what  he  saw  the  missionaries  had  left, 
but  was  easily  kept  from  any  further  attempt  by  serious 
reproof.     The  Esquimaux  ate  to-day  an  old  sack  made  of 
fish-skin,  which  proved  indeed  a  dry  and  miserable  dish. 
While  they  were  at  this  singular  meal,  they  kept  repeat- 
ing in  a  low  humming  tone,  "  You  was  a  sack  but  a  little 
while   ago,  and   now  you    are    food    for    us."     Towards 
evening  some  flakes  of   ice  were    discovered  driving  to- 
wards the  coast,  and  on  the  fourteenth  in  the  morning, 
the  sea  was  covered  with  them.     But  the  weather  was 
again  very   strong,  stormy,    and    the    Esquimaux    could 
not  quit  the    snow-house,  which  made  them    extremely 
low-spirited  and  melancholy.      Kissigiak  suggested  that 
it  would   be  well   to   make  good  weather;  by  which  he 
meant  to  practise    his  art  as  a   sorcerer,    to    make    the 
weather    good.     The    missionaries    opposed  it,    and  told 
him  that  his  heathenish  practices  were  of  no  use,  but  that 
the  weather  would  become  favourable  as  soon  as  it  should 
please  God. 

To-day,  the  Esquimaux  began  to  eat  an  old  filthy  and 
worn-out  skin,  which  had  served  them  for  a  rnattrass. 
On  the  fifteenth  the  weather  continued  boisterous,  and 
the  Esquimaux  appeared  every  now  and  then  to  sink 
under  disappointment.  But  they  possess  one  good  qua- 
lity, namely,  a  power  of  going  to  sleep  when  they 
please;  and,  if  need  be,  they  will  sleep  for  a  day  and 
night  together. 

In  the  evening  the  sky  became  clear,  and  their  hopes 
revived.  Mark  and  Joel  went  out  to  reconnoitre,  and 
brought  word  that  the  ice  had  acquired  a  considerable 
degree  of  solidity,  and  might  soon  be  fit  for  use.  The 

poor 


246  PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES. 

poor  dogs  had  meanwhile  fasted  for  near  four  days  ;  but 
now  in  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  release,  the  missionaries 
allowed  to  each,  a  few  morsels  of  food.  The  temperature 
of  the  air  having  been  rather  mild,  it  occasioned  a  new 
source  of  distress;  for  by  the  warm  exhalations  of  the  in- 
habitants, the  roof  of  the  snow-house  melted,  which  occa- 
sioned a  continual  dropping,  and  by  degrees,  made  every 
thing  soaking  wet.  The  missionaries  report,  that  they 
considered  this  the  greatest  hardship  they  had  to  endure ; 
for  they  had  not  a  dry  place  to  lie  down  in. 

On  the  16th  early,  the  sky  cleared,  but  the  fine  par- 
ticles of  snow  were  driven  about  like  clouds.  Joel  and 
Kissigiak  resolved  to  pursue  their  journey  to  Okkak,  by 
the  way  of  Nuasornak,  and  set  out,  the  wind  and  snow  full 
in  their  faces.  Mark  could  not  resolve  to  proceed  farther 
north  ;  because,  in  his  opinion,  the  violence  of  the  wind 
had  driven  the  ice  off  the  coast  at  Tikkerarusk,  so  as  to 
render  it  impossible  to  land  :  but  he  thought  he  might 
proceed  to  the  south  with  safety,  and  get  round  Kiglapeit. 
The  missionaries  endeavoured  to  persuade  him  to  follow 
the  above-mentioned  company  to  Okkak,  but  it  was  in 
vain ;  and  they  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  insist  upon  it, 
not  being  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  circumstances. 
Their  present  distress  dictated  the  necessity  of  venturing 
something  to  reach  the  habitations  of  men  ;  and  yet  they 
were  rather  afraid  of  passing  over  the  newly-frozen  sea 
under  Kiglapeit,  and  could  not  immediately  determine 
what  to  'do.  William  Turner  therefore  went  again  with 
Mark  to  examine  the  ice,  and  both  seemed  satisfied  that 
it  would  hold.  They  therefore  came  at  last  to  a  resolution 
to  return  to  Nain. 

On  the  17th  the  wind  had  considerably  encreased, 
with  heavy  showers  of  snow  and  sleet,  but  they  set  off  at 
half  past  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  Mark  ran  all  the 

wav 


PRESERVATION    OF    TWO    MISSIONARIES.  247 

way  round  Kiglapeit,  before  the  sledge,  to  find  a  good 
track;  and  about  one  o'clock,  through  God's  mercy,  they 
were  out  of  danger  and  reached  the  bay.  Here  they 
found  a  good  track  upon  smooth  ice,  made  a  meal  of  the 
remnant  of  their  provisions,  and  got  some  warm  coffee. 
Thus  refreshed  they  resolved  to  proceed,  without  stop- 
ping, till  they  reached  Xain,  where  they  arrived  at  twelve 
o'clock  at  night.  Tiie  brethren  at  Nain  rejoiced  exceed- 
ingly to  see  them  return  ;  for  by  several  hints  of  the  Es- 
quimaux who  first  met  them  going  out  to  sea,  and  who 
then  in  their  obscure  way,  had  endeavoured  to  warn  them 
of  the  danger  of  the  ground-swell,  but  had  not  been  at- 
tended to,  their  fellow-missionaries  and  especially  their 
wives,  had  been  much  terrified.  One  of  the  Esquimaux, 
whose  wife  had  made  some  article  of  dress  for  Samuel 
Liebisch,  addressed  her  in  the  following  manner.  '  I 
should  be  glad  of  the  payment  for  my  wife's  work  !' — 
'  Wait  a  little,'  answered  Mrs.  Liebisch,  '  and  when  my 
husband  returns  he  will  settle  with  you  ;  for  I  am  unac- 
quainted with  the  bargain  made  between  you.'  '  Samuel 
and  William/  replied  the  Esquimaux,  '  will  not  return  any 
more  to  Xain.' — '  How  not  return,  what  makes  you  say 
so?'  After  some  pause  the  Esquimaux  replied  in  a  low 
tone.  '  Samuel  and  William  are  no  more  !  All  their  bones 
are  broken,  and  in  the  stomachs  of  the  sharks!'  Terrified 
at  this  alarming  account,  Mrs.  Liebisch  called  in  the  rest 
of  the  family,  and  the  Esquimaux  was  examined  as  to  bis 
meaning;  but  his  answers  were  little  less  obscure.  He 

seemed   so  certain  of  the  destruction  of  the  missionaries 

» 

that  he  was  with  difficulty  prevailed  on  to  wait  some  time 
for  their  return.  He  could  not  believe  that  they  could 
have  escaped  the  effects  of  so  furious  a  tempest,  consider- 
ing the  course  they  were  taking. 


Account 


[     248     ] 

Account  of  SINGULAR  TENURES  by  which  many  JSstates  in 
this  Kingdom  arc  held, 

STOCKBURN County  of  Durham . 

IN  the  eighth  year  of  the  pontificate  of  Walter  Shirlawe, 
Bishop  of  Durham,  1395,  Sir  John  Conyers,  knight,  died 
seised  in  his  demesne,  as  of  fee  tail,  to  him  and  the  heirs 
male  of  his  body  issuing,  of  the  manor  of  Stockburne, 
with  the  appurtenances ;  which  same  manor  was  held  of 
the  lord  bishop  in  capite,  by  the  service  of  shewing  to 
the  lord  bishop  onefawchon  (falchion),  which  after  having 
been  seen  by  the  bishop  was  to  be  restored  to  him,  in  lieu 
of  all  other  services. 

This  valuable  manor  of  Stockburne  (the  seat  of  the  an- 
cient family  of  Conyers,  in  the  bishoprick  of  Durham) 
worth  554Z.  a  year,  was  in  the  year  1771,  the  estate  of 
Sir  Edward  Blackett,  and  is  held  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham 
by  the  easy  service  of  presenting  a.  falchion  to  every  bishop, 
upon  his  first  entrance  into  his  diocese,  as  an  emblem  of 
his  temporal  power. 

The  manor  of  Stockburne  was  purchased  by  the  late  Sir 
William  Blackett,  baronet,  of  the  grand-daughter  of  the 
last  of  the  family  of  Conyers,  of  Stockburne,  whose  mo- 
ther was  married  into  the  family  of  the  Earl  of  Shrews- 
bury. The  family  of  Conyers  were  barons  of  the  palati- 
nate, and  lords  of  Stockburne  from  the  Conquest,  and 
before,  till  the  inheritance  was  so  carried,  within  a  cen- 
tury past,  by  the  marriage  of  the  heiress  into  the  family 
of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  as  above-mentioned  ;  and  by 
her  daughter  was  sold  amongst  other  estates  to  Sir  Wil- 
liam Blackett. 

Sir  Edward  Blackett  now  represents  the  person  of  Sir 
John  Conyers,  who,  as  tradition  says,  in  the  fields  of 
Stockburne,  slew,  with  this  falchion,  a  monstrous  creature, 

a  dragon. 


ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES.  249 

a  dragon,  a  worm,  or  flying  serpent,  that  devoured  men, 
women,  and  children.  The  then  owner  of  Stockburne,  as 
a  reward  for  his  bravery,  gave  him  the  manor,  with  its 
appurtenances,  to  hold  for  ever,  on  condition  that  he 
meets  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Durham  with  this  falchion,  on 
his  first  entrance  into  his  diocese,  after  his  election  to 
that  See. 

And  in  confirmation  of  this  tradition,  there  is  painted 
in  a  window  of  Stockburne  Church,  the  falchion  we  just 
now  spoke  of;  and  it  is  also  cut  in  marble,  upon  the  tomb 
of  the  great  ancestor  of  the  Conyers,  together  with  a  dog, 
and  the  monstrous  worm  or  serpent,  lying  at  his  feet,  of 
his  own  killing,  of  which  the  history  of  the  family  gives 
the  above  account. 

When  the  bishop  first  comes  into  his  diocese,  he  crosses 
the  river  Tees,  either  at  the  ford  at  Nesham,  or  Croft- 
bridge  ;  (where  the  counties  of  York  and  Durham  divide) 
at  one  of  which  places,  Sir  Edward  Blackett,  either  in 
person,  or  by  his  representative,  if  the  bishop  comes  by 
Nesham,  rides  into  the  middle  of  the  river  Tees,  with  the 
ancient  falchion  drawn  in  his  hand,  or  upon  the  middle 
of  Croft-Bridge;  and  then  presents  the  falchion  to  the 
bishop,  addressing  him  in  the  ancient  form  of  words.  Upon 
which  the  bishop  takes  the  falchion  into  his  hands,  looks 
at  it,  and  returns  it  back  again,  wishing  the  lord  of  the 
manor  his  health,  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  estate. 

STOW. —  County  of  Cambridge. 

John  de  Curtese  held  thirty  acres  of  land  in  Stow,  in 
the  county  of  Cambridge,  by  the  serjeanty  of  carrying  a 
truss  of  hay  to  the  necessary  house  of  our  lord  the  King, 
when  the  King  passed  through  those  parts,  and  is  rated  at 
the  Exchequer  at  ten  shillings  a-year. 

WICHX OR  County  of  Stafford. 

Sir   Phillip  de    Somerville,  knight,  held   the  manor  of 

Wichnour  in  com.  Stafford,  of  the  Eirle  of   Lancaster, 

Eccentric,  Ko.   VI.  K  K  then 


250  ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES. 

then  lord  of  the  honour  of  Tutbury,  by  these  memorable 
services,  viz.  by  two  small  fees,  that  is  to  say,  when  other 
tenants  pay  for  releef  (of)  one  whole  knight's  fee, 
one  hundred  shillings  ;  and  when  escuage*  is  assessed 
throughout  the  land,  or  ayde  for  to  make  the  eldest  son  of 
the  lord  knyght,  or  for  to  marry  the  eldest  daughter  of 
the  lord,  the  said  Sir  Philip  shal  pay  hot  the  moty  of  if, 
that  other  shal  paye.  Nevertheless,  the  said  Sir  Philip 
shal  fynde  meynteinge  and  susteinge  one  bacon  flyke, 
hanginge  in  his  halle  at  Wichnore,  ready  arrayed  all 
tymes  of  the  yere,  bott  in  Lent,  to  be  given  to  everyche 
mane  or  womane  married  after  the  day  and  yere  of  their 
marriage  be  passed;  and  to  be  given  everyche  mane  of 
religion,  archbishop,  prior,  or  other  religious,  and  to 
everyche  priest,  after  the  year  and  day  of  their  profession 
finished,  or  of  their  dignity  reseyved,  in  forme  following, 
whensoever  that  ony  such  before-named  wylle  come  for 
to  enquire  for  the  baconne  in  their  owne  person,  or  by  any 
other  for  them,  they  shal  come  to  the  baylifF  or  to  the 
porter  of  the  lordship  of  Whichenour,  and  shall  say  to 
them  in  the  rnanere  as  ensewelhe. 

''  Baylife  or  porter  I  doo  you  to  knowe,  that  I  am  come 
"  for  myself  (or  if  he  come  for  any  other,  shewing  for 
"  wliome)  to  demand  one  bacon  flyke,  hanging  in  the 
"  halle  of  the  Lord  of  Whichenour,  after  the  forme 
"  thereunto  belongingre.'1 

o        o 

After  this  relation,  the  baliff  or  porter  shall  assigrie  a 
day  to  him,  upon  promise  by  his  feythe  to  returne,  and 
with  him  to  bring  tweyne  of  his  neighbours,  and  in  the 
meyn  time  the  said  bailif  shal  take  with  him  tweyne  of  the 
freeholders  of  the  lordship  of  Whichenoure,  and  they 
three  shal  goe  to  the  rnanoure  of  Rudlowe,  belonging  to 
Robert  Knyghtleye,  and  there  shall  sornon  the  forsaid 

*  A  pecuniary  satisfaction,  instead  of  personal  military  service. 

Knyerhtley 


ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES.  251 

Knyghtley  or  his  bayliffe,  commanding  hyra  to  be  ready 
at  Whichenoar  the  day  appointed  at  pryme  of  the  day, 
with  his  carriage,  that  is  so  say,  a  horse,  and  a  sadyle,  a 
sakke  and  a  pryJte,  (i.  e.  spur)  for  to  convey  and  carry  the 
said  baconne  and  corne  a  journey  owt  of  the  Countee  of 
Stafford  at  his  costages ;  and  then  the  sayd  bailiffe  shal, 
with  the  said  freeholders,  somon  all  the  tenannts  of  the 
said  manoir  to  be  ready  at  the  day  appoynted  at  Which- 
enour,  for  to  doe  and  performe  the  services  which  they 
owe  to  the  baconne ;  and  at  the  day  assigned,  all  such  as 
owe  services  to  the  baconne  shal  be  ready  at  the  gatte  of 
the  manoir  of  Whichenour,  from  the  sonne  risinge  to 
none,  attendyng  of  hym  that  fetcheth  the  baconne,  and 
when  he  his  comyn,  there  shal  be  delivered  to  hym  and 
his  fellowys  chapeletts,  and  to  all  those  whiche  shal  be 
there,  to  doe  their  services  deue  to  the  baconne;  and 
they  shal  lede  the  seicl  demandant  wyth  tromps  and  ta- 
bours  and  other  manner  of  mynstralseye  to  the  hall  dore, 
where  he  shal  fynde  the  lord  of  Whichenour  or  his 
steward  redy  to  deliver  the  baconne  in  this  manere. 

He  shall  enquere  of  hym  which  demandeth  the  ba- 
conne, if  he  have  brought  tvveyne  of  his  neighbours  with 
him,  which  must  answere,  "  they  be  here  ready  ;"  and  then 
the  steward  shall  cause  theis  two  neighbours  to  swere,  yf 
the  said  demandant  be  a  weddyt  man,  or  have  been  a 
man  weddyt  ;  ami  yf  syth  his  marriage  one  yere  and  a 
day  be  passed  :  and  if  he  be  freeman  or  villeyn.  And  if 
his  said  neighbours  make  othe  that  he  hath  for  hym  all 
theis  three  poynts  rehei-sed,  then  shall  the  baconne  be 
take  downe  and  broght  to  the  halle  dore,  and  shall  there 
be  layd  upon  one  half  a  quarter  of  wheatte  and  upon  one 
ether  of  rye.  And  he  that  demandeth  the  baconne  shal 
kneel  upon  his  knee,  and  shall  holde  his  right  hande  upon 
a  booke,  which  booke  shall  be  layd  above  the  baconne 
and  the  corne,  and  shall  make  oath  in  this  manere. 

K  K  2  "  Here 


252  ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES. 

"  Here  ye,  Sir  Philip  de  Somervyle,  lord  of  Whichenour, 
"  mayntayner  and  giver  of  this  baconne,  that  I,  A.  syth 
"  I  wedded  B.  my  wife,  and  syth  I  had  her  in  my  keep- 
"  yng  and  at  my  wylle,  by  a  yere  and  a  daye  after  our 
"  marry  age,  I  wold  not  have  chaunged  for  none  other 
"  farer  ne  fowler,  richer  ne  powrer,  ne  for  none  other 
"  descended  of  gretter  lynage,  sleepyng  ne  waking,  at 
"  noo  tyme.  And  if  the  said  B.  were  sole  and  I  sole,  I 
"  wolde  take  her  to  be  my  wife  before  all  the  wyrnen 
"  of  the  worlde,  of  what  condytions  soever  they  be, 
"  good  or  evyle,  as  help  me  God  and  his  seyntys,  and 
"  this  flesh,  and  all  fleshes. 

And  his  neighbours  shall  make  oath  that  they  trust  ve- 
rily he  hath  said  truly  :  and  yf  it  be  founde  by  neighbours 
before-named,  that  he  be  a  freeman,  there  shall  be  dely- 
vered  to  him  half  a  quarter  of  ic  hea  tie  and  a  cheese:  and 
yf  he  be  a  villein,  he  shall  have  half  a  quarter  of  rye, 
without  cheese ;  and  then  shal  Knyghtley,  the  lord  of 
Rudlowe,  be  called  for  to  carry  all  theis  thynges  to  fore 
rehersed  :  and  the  said  corne  shal  be  layd  upon  one  horse  ; 
and  the  baoonne  above  yt,  and  he  to  whom  the  baconne 
apperteigneth  shall  ascend  upon  his  horse,  and  shall  take 
the  cheese  before  hym,  if  he  have  a  horse,  and  yf  he  have 
none  the  lord  of  Whichenour  shall  cause  him  to  have 
one  horse  and  sadyl,  to  such  tyme  as  he  passed  his  lord- 
shippe;  and  soe  shall  they  departe  the  manoyr  of  Which- 
enour with  the  corne  and  the  baconne  to  fore  him  that 
hath  wonne  yt,  with  trompets,  tabourets,  and  other  ma- 
noir  of  mynstralcye. — And  all  the  free  tenants  of  Which- 
enour shall  conduct  him  to  be  passed  the  lordship  of 
Whichenour,  and  then  shall  all  they  retorne,  except  hym 
to  whom  apperteigneth  to  make  the  carriage  and  journey 
withoutte  the  countye  of  Stafford,  at  the  costys  of  his  lerd 
of  Whichenour. 

And  yf  the  said   Robert  Knyghtley   doe  not  cause  the 

baconne 


ACCOUNT    OF    SINGULAR    TENURES.  253 

baconne  and  corne  to  be  conveyed  as  is  rehearsed,  the 
lord  of  Whichenour  shall  do  it  to  be  carried,  and  shall 
distreinge  the  said  Robert  Knightley  for  his  default,  for 
one  hundred  shillings  in  his  manoir  of  Rudlow,  and  shale 
kepe  the  distresse  so  takyn,  irreplevisable.* 

WINGFIELD. County  of  Suffolk. 

Geoffry  Frumband  held  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Wing- 
field,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  by  the  service  of  paying  to 
our  lord  the  King  two  white  doves  yearly. 

WlNTERSLEW. Count)/  of  Wilts. 

John  de  Roches  holds  the  manor  of  Winterslew,  in  the 
county  of  Wilts,  by  the  service,  that  when  our  lord  the 
King  should  abide  at  Clarendon,  he  should  come  to  the 
palace  of  the  King  there,  and  go  into  the  butlery,  and 
draw  out  of  any  vessel  he  should  find  in  the  said  butlery, 
at  his  choice,  as  much  wine  as  should  be  needful  for 
making  a  Pitcher  of  Claret,  which  he  should  make  at  the 
King's  charge  ;  and  that  he  should  serve  the  King  with 
a  cup,  and  should  have  the  vessel  from  whence  he  took 
the  wine,  with  all  the  remainder  of  the  wine  left  in  the 
vessel,  together  with  the  cup  from  whence  the  King  should 
drink  that  claret. 

WORKSOP. Countt/  of  Nottingham. 

King  Henry  VIII.  in  the  33d  year  of  his  reign,  grant- 
ed to  George  Talbot,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  the  scite  and 
precinct  of  the  ^monastery  of  Worksop,  with  its  appur- 
tenances, in  the  County  of  Nottingham  ;  to  be  held  of  the 
King  in  capite,  by  the  service  of  the  tenth  part  of  a  knight's 
fee  ;f  and  by  the  royal  service  of  finding  the  King  a  right 
hand  glove  at  his  coronation,  and  to  support  his  right  arm, 
that  day,  as  long  as  he  should  hold  the  sceptre  in  his 
h'and,  and  paying  yearly  231.  8s.  (Hd. 

*  This  was  a  translation  in  the  time  of  Henry  VII.  of  a  roll  in  French,  in 
the  time  of  Edw.  III. 
t  A  Knight's  fee  in  the  reign  of  Edw.  II.  amounted  to  201. 

At 


254  EXTRAORDINARY    SLEEPER. 

At  the  coronation  of  King  James  II.  this  service  was 
claimed  and  allowed. — And  at  the  coronation  of  his  pre- 
sent Majesty  George  III.  the  same  service  was  performed 
by  the  Most  Honourable  Charles,  Marquis  of  Rocking- 
ham,  as  deputy  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  lord  of  the  ma- 
nor of  Worksop. 

WORTHYNBURY. County  of  Flint. 

Richard  de  Pynelsdon  (Pulesdon)  holds  lands  and  te- 
nements in  Worthynbury,  in  the  parts  of  Mayler  Says- 
nee,  in  the  county  of  Flint,  which  are  held  of  our  lord  the 
King  by  certain  services,  and  by  ammobragium,  which 
extended  to  five  shillings,  when  it  happened. 
YARMOUTH. County  of  Norfolk. 

This  town,  by  charter,  is  bound  to  send  to  the  sheriffs!  of 
Norwich  a  hundred  herrinys,  which  are  to  be  baked  in 
twenty-four  pies  or  patties,  and  thence  delivered  to  the  lord 
of  the  manor  of  East-Carlton,  who  is  to  convey  them  to 
the  King. 


Wonderful  History  of  an  extraordinary  Sleeper. 

JN"E  Samuel  Clinton,  of  Tinsbury  near  Bath,  a  labour- 
ing man  of  about  twenty-five  years  of  age,  of  a  robust 
habit  of  body,  not  fat  but  fleshy,  and  with  dark  brown 
hair,  happened  on  the  13th  of  May,  1694,  without  any 
visible  cause,  to  fall  into  a  very  profound  sleep,  out  of 
which  he  could  by  no  means  be  roused  by  those  about 
him,  till  after  a  month's  time,  when  he  rose  of  himself, 
put  on  his  clothes  and  went  about  his  business  of  husban- 
dry us  usual ;  he  slept,  ate  and  drank  as  before,  but  did 
not  speak  a  word  till  a  month  after.  All  the  time  he 
slept,  victuals  and  drink  stood  by  him,  which  were  con- 
sumed every  clay,  and  as  was  supposed  by  him  ;  though 
no  person  saw  him  eat  or  drink  all  the  while!  from  this 
time  he  remained  free  from  any  drowsiness  or  sleepiness 

till 


EXTRAORDINARY    SLEEPER.  255 

till  about  the  month  of  April,  1G96,  when  he  fell  into  his 
sleeping  fit  again  as  he  had  done  before.  After  some 
days  his  friends  were  prevailed  on  to  try  what  effect  medi- 
cines might  have  upon  him  :  accordingly  one  Mr. 
Gibbs,  an  apothecary  bled,  blistered,  cupped,  and  scari- 
fied him,  and  used  all  the  external  irritating  medicines 
he  could  think  of;  but  all  was  to  no  purpose;  and  after 
the  first  fortnight  he  was  never  observed  to  open  his  eyes. 
Victuals  stood  by  him  as  before,  which  he  ate  of  now 
and  then,  but  nobody  ever  saw  him  eat  or  evacuate,  though 
he  did  both  very  regularly  as  he  had  occasion,  and  some- 
times they  found  him  fast  asleep  with  the  pot  in  his  hand 
in  bed,  and  sometimes  with  his  mouth  full  of  meat.  In 
this  manner  he  lay  about  ten  weeks,  and  then  he  could 
eat  nothing;  for  his  jaws  seemed  to  be  set  and  his  teeth 
clenched  so  close,  that  with  all  the  art  they  used  with  in- 
struments, they  could  not  open  his  mouth  to  put  any 
thing  into  it  to  support  him.  At  last  observing  a  hole 
made  in  his  teeth  by  holding  his  pipe  in  his  mouth,  they 
now  and  then  poured  some  tent  into  his  mouth  through 
a  quill,  and  this  was  all  he  took  for  six  weeks  and  four 
days,  and  of  that  not  above  three  pints  or  two  quarts  ;  he 
had  made  water  but  once,  and  never  had  a  stool  all  that 
time.  On  the  7th  of  August,  which  is  seventeen  weeks 
from  the  9th  of  April,  when  he  began  to  sleep,  he  awoke, 
put  on  his  clothes,  and  walked  about  the  room  :  not 
knowing  he  had  slept  above  a  night,  nor  could  he  be  per- 
suaded he  had  lain  so  Ions;,  till  ^oino-  out  into  the  fields 

O  '  O  O 

he  found  every  body  busy  getting  in  the  harvest,  and 
he  remembered  very  well  when  he  fell  asleep,  that  they 
were  sowing  their  barley  and  oats,  which  he  then  saw 
ripe  and  fit  to  be  cut  down.  There  was  one  thing  obser- 
vable that  though  his  flesh  was  wasted  with  lying:  so  long 

«/  O 

jn  bed,  fasting  for  above  six  weeks,  yet  a  certain  gentle- 
man assured  Dr.  Oliver  that  when  he  saw  him,  which 

was 


256  EXTRAORDINARY    SLEEPER. 

was  the  first  day  of  his  coming  out,  he  looked  brisker 
than  ever  he  saw  him  in  his  life  before  ;  and  upon  asking 
him  whether  the  bed  had  made  him  sore,  he  assured  the 
gentleman,  he  never  found  that,  or  any  other  inconve- 
nience ;  and  that  he  had  not  the  least  remembrance  of  any 
thing  that  passed  or  was  done  to  him  all  that  while 
He  went  again  to  his  husbandry  as  he  used  to  do  be- 
fore he  slept,  and  remained  well  from  that  time  till  the 
17th  of  August,  1697,  when  in  the  morning  he  com- 
plained of  a  shivering  and  coldness  in  his  back,  he  vomi'' 
ted  once  or  twice,  and  that  same  day  he  fell  into  his 
sleeping  fit  again  :  Dr.  Oliver  going  to  see  him,  found 
him  asleep  with  a  cup  of  beer  and  a  piece  of  bread  and 
cheese  upon  a  stool  by  his  bed,  within  his  reach  ;  the 
Doctor  felt  his  pulse,  which  at  that  time  was  very  regular, 
and  he  also  found  his  heart  beat  very  regularly  too,  and 
his  breathing  was  easy  and  free.  The  Doctor  only  ob- 
served, that  his  pulse  beat  a  little  too  strong;  he  was  in  a 
breathing  sweat,  and  had  an  agreeable  warmth  all  over 
his  body  ;  then  the  Doctor  put  his  mouth  to  his  ear,  and 
called  him  as  loud  as  he  could  several  times  by  his  name, 
pulled  him  by  the  shoulders,  pinched  his  nose,  stopped 
his  mouth  and  nose  together,  as  long  as  he  could  without 
choaking  him,  but  to  no  purpose  ;  for  all  this  time  he  did 
not  give  the  least  sign  of  being  sensible.  The  Doctor 
lifted  up  his  eye-lids  and  found  his  eye-balls  drawn  up 
under  his  eye-brows,  and  fixed  without  any  motion  at 
all ;  then  the  Doctor  held  under  one  nostril  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  a  phial  with  spirit  of  Sal  Ammoniac,  extract- 
ed from  quick-lime.  Then  he  injected  it  three  or  four 
times  up  the  same  nostril,  and  although  he  had  poured  into 
it  about  half  an  ounce  of  this  fiery  spirit,  it  only  made  his 
nose  run  and  his  eye-lids  shiver  and  tremble  a  very  little. 
The  Doctor  finding  no  success  with  this,  crammed  that 
nostril  with  powder  of  white  hellebore,  and  staying  some 

time 


EXTRAORDINARY    SLEEPER.  257 

time  afterwards  in  the  room  to  see  what  effect  all  these 
might  have  upon  him,  he  never  gave  any  sign  that  he 
felt  what  the  Doctor  had  done,  nor  discovered  any  kind 
of  uneasiness  hy  moving  any  part  of  his  hody,  that  the 
Doctor  could  observe ;  and  after  all  these  experiments 
the  Dr.  left  him,  being  pretty  well  satisfied  that  he  was 
really  asleep,  and  no  sullen  counterfeit  as  some  people 
supposed.  Upon  the  Dr's.  relating  what  he  had  observed, 
several  gentlemen  from  Bath  went  out  to  see  him,  and 
found  him  in  the  same  condition  the  Dr.  had  left  him  on 
the  day  before,  only  his  nose  was  inflamed  and  swelled 
very  much  and  his  lips  and  his  right  nostril  were  blistered 
and  scabby,  occasioned  by  the  spirit  of  the  hellebore. 
About  ten  days  after  the  Dr.  had  been  to  see  him,  Mr. 
Woolmer,  an  apothecary,  finding  his  pulse  pretty  high, 
drew  about  fourteen  ounces  of  blood  from  his  arm,  tied 
it  again,  and  left  his  arm  as  he  found  him  ;  and  Mr. 
Woolmer  assured  the  Dr.  that  he  never  made  the  least 
motion  in  the  world  when  he  pricked  him,  nor  all  the 
while  his  arm  was  bleeding.  Several  other  experiments 
were  made  by  such  as  went  to  see  him  from  Bath,  but  all 
to  no  purpose.  The  Dr.  saw  him  again  the  latter  end  of 
September,  and  found  him  just  in  the  same  posture  lying 
in  his  bed  ;  but  now  his  pulse  was  not  so  strong,  nor  had 
he  any  sweats  as  when  the  Dr.  saw  him  before ;  he  tried 
him  again  by  stopping  his  nose  and  mouth,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose, and  a  gentleman  ran  a  large  pin  into  his  arm  to  the 
very  bone,  but  he  gave  no  sign  of  his  being  sensible  of 
what  was  done  to  him.  In  all  this  time  the  Dr.  was  as- 
sured that  nobody  had  seen  him  either  eat  or  drink, 
though  they  endeavoured  to  make  him  as  much  as  possi- 
ble; but  that  it  always  stood  by  him,  and  they  observed 
that  sometimes  once  a  day,  at  others  once  in  two  days, 
all  was  gone  ;  it  was  farther  observable  that  he  never  fouled 
his  bed,  but  always  went  to  the  pot.  In  this  manner 
Eccentric,  No.  VI.  L  L  he 


258  LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ. 

he  lay  till  the  J9th  of  November,  when  his  mother  hearing 
him  make  a  noise,  ran  immediately  up  to  him  and  found 
him  eating  ;  she  asked  him  "  how  lie  did?"  "  Very  well," 
he  said,  "  thank  God;"  she  asked  him  again,  "  which  he 
liked  best,  bread  and  butter,  or  bread  and  cheese?"  He 
answered,  "  bread  and  cheese,"  upon  this  the  woman,  over- 
joyed, left  him  to  acquaint  his  brother  of  it,  and  both 
coming  straight  up  to  the  chamber  to  discourse  with  him, 
they  found  him  as  fast  asleep  again  as  ever,  and  they  could 
not  by  any  means  awake  him.  From  this  time  to  the  end 
of  January,  or  the  beginning  of  February,  he  did  not  sleep 
so  profoundly  as  before,  for  when  they  called  him  by  his 
name  he  seemed  to  hear  them,  and  become  somewhat  sen- 
sible, though  they  could  not  make  him  answer ;  his  eyes 
now  were  not  shut  so  close,  and  he  had  frequently  great 
tremblings  with  his  eye-lids,  upon  which  they  every  day 
expected  that  he  would  awake,  which  did  not  happen 
till  about  the  time  mentioned,  and  then  he  awoke  per- 
fectly well,  remembering  nothing  that  happened  during 
the  whole  time  he  slept.  It  was  observed  he  was  very 
little  altered  in  his  flesh,  only  he  complained  that  the 
cold  pinched  him  more  than  usual,  and  so  he  presently 
went  to  husbandry,  as  at  other  times. 


Life  of  the  celebrated  Miser,  John  JElwes,  Esq.  Member  in 
three  successive  Parliaments  for  Berkshire. 

(With  a  correct  Likeness-} 

_L  HE  father  of  Mr.  Elwes,  whose  family  name  was 
Meggot,  was  an  eminent  brewer  in  Southwark.  He  died 
when  his  son  was  only  four  years  old,  so  that  little  of  the 
penurious  character  by  which  he  was  afterwards  distin- 
guished, can  be  attributed  to  his  father.  The  precepts 
and  example  of  his  surviving  parent  doubtless  exercised 
more  influence ;  for  though  she  was  left  nearly  one 

hundred 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ.  259 

hundred  thousand  pounds  hy  her  husband,  it  is  said  that 
she  starved  herself  to  death.  Another  cause,  which  wil! 
presently  be  noticed,  doubtless  contributed  to  instil  into 
the  mind  of  Mr.  Elwes  that  saving  principle  by  which  he 
was  so  eminently  distinguished. 

At  an  early  period  of  life  he  was   sent  to  Westminster 
school,  where  he  remained  ten  or   twelve  years,  and  be 
came  a  good  classical  scholar;  yet  it  is  not  a  litlle  extra 
ordinary,  that  at  no  future  period  of  his  life  was   he  ever 
seen  with  a  book,  nor  did  he  leave  behind  him,  at  all  h;3 
different  houses,  two  pounds  worth  of  literary  furnituro, 
Of  accounts  he  had  no  knowledge  whatever,  and  this  may 
perhaps  have  been,  in  part,  the   cause  of  his  total   igii" 
ranee  of  his  own    concerns.     From   Westminster   scho •.•• 
he  removed  to  Geneva,  to    complete  his  education,   a:;u 
after    an    absence    of  two   or   three  years,   returned 
England. 

At  this  time   his  uncle,  Sir   Harvey  Elwes,  resided  at 
Stoke,  in  Suffolk,  the  most  perfect  picture  of  penury  tliH;. 
perhaps  ever  existed.     To  this  gentleman   he  was  intr  > 
duced,  and  as  he  was   to  be  his   heir,   it  was   of  coui  ;e 
policy  to  endeavour  to  please  him.     A  little  disguise  w>, 
now  sometimes  necessary  even  in   Mr.  Elwes,  who,  as  I  to 
mingled  with  the  gay  world,  dressed   like   other  peoj.u 
This,  however,  would  not   have  gained   him   tbe  favor  of 
Sir  Harvey  :  his  hopeful  nephew  used,  therefore,  when  be 
visited  him,  to  stop  at  a  little  inn  at  Chelmsford,  where 
he  dressed  in  a  manner  more  likely  to   ensure  his  uncle'1 
approbation.     He  made  his  appearance  at  Stoke  in  a  |  , 
of  small  iron  buckles,  darned  worsted   stockings,  an 
worn-out  coat,  and  tattered  waistcoat,  and  was   con'   ; 
plated  with  a  miserable  satisfaction   by  Sir  Harvey,   / 
was  delighted  to  see  his  heir  bidding  fair  to  rival  hin 
the  accumulation  of  useless  wealth.     There  they  wouL' 
with  a  single  stick  on   the   fire,  and  indulge  occasion*  ! 

L  L  2  \virh 


260  LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ. 

with  one  glass  of  wine  between  them,  while  they  inveighed 
against  the  extravagance  of  the  times  ;  and  when  night 
approached,  they  retired  to  bed  because  they  thus  saved 
the  expence  of  a  candle-light.  The  nephew,  however,  had 
then,  what  he  never  lost,  a  very  keen  appetite,  and  this 
in  the  opinion  of  his  uncle,  would  have  been  an  unpar- 
donable offence.  He  therefore  first  partook  of  a  dinner 
with  some  country  neighbour,  and  then  returned  to  his 
uncle  with  a  little  diminutive  appetite,  which  quite  charmed 
the  old  gentleman. 

Sir  Harvey  died  at  the  age  of  between  eighty  and  ninety, 
leaving  his  name  and  his  whole  property,  amounting  to 
at  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds,  to  his  ne- 
phew, who  at  the  time  possessed  a  fortune  very  little  infe- 
rior. For  many  years,  Mr.  Elwes  was  known  in  all  the 
fashionable  circles  of  the  metropolis.  His  numerous  ac- 
quaintance arid  large  fortune  conspired  to  introduce  him 
into  every  society ;  he  was  admitted  a  member  of  a  club 
at  Arthur's,  and  various  other  clubs  of  that  period.  His 
passion  for  play  was  only  exceeded  by  his  avarice,  and  it 
was  not  till  late  in  life  that  he  was  cured  of  the  inclina- 
tion. Few  men,  according  to  his  own  acknowledgment, 
had  played  deeper  and  with  more  varied  success.  He 
once  played  two  days  and  a  night  without  intermission, 
and  the  room  being  small,  the  party,  one  of  whom  was 
the  late  Duke  of  Northumberland,  were  nearly  up  to  their 
knees  in  cards.  At  this  sitting  Mr.  Elwes  lost  some 
thousands. 

No  one  will  be  disposed  to  deny  that  avarice  is  a  base 
passion.  It  will  therefore  be  the  more  difficult  to  con- 
ceive how  a  mind  organized  like  that  of  Mr.  Elwes,  could 
be  swayed  by  principles  of  such  peculiar  honour  and  deli- 
cacy as  often  influenced  his  conduct ;  the  theory  which  he 
professed,  that  it  was  impossible  to  ask  a  gentleman  for 
money,  he  adhered  to  in  practice,  and  this  feeling  he 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELWES,  ESQ.  261 

never  violated  to  the  last.  Had  he  received  all  he  won,  he 
would  have  been  richer  by  many  thousands,  for  many 
sums  owing  him  by  persons  of  very  high  rank  were  never 
liquidated.  Nor  was  this  the  only  pleasing  trait  in  the 
character  of  Mr.  Elvves  ;  his  manners  were  so  gentlemanly, 
so  mild,  and  so  engaging,  that  rudeness  could  not  ruffle 
them,  nor  strong  ingratitude  oblige  him  to  cease  the  ob- 
servance of  his  usual  attentions. 

After  sitting  up  a  whole  night  at  play  for  thousands, 
with  the  most  fashionable  and  profligate  men  of  the  time, 
surrounded  with  splendour  and  profusion,  he  would  walk 
out  about  four  in  the  morning,  not  towards  home,  but  to 
Smithfield,  to  meet  his  own  cattle  which  were  coming  to 
market  from  Thaydon  Hall,  a  mansion  he  possessed  in 
Essex.  There,  forgetting  the  scenes  he  had  just  left,  he 
would  stand  in  the  cold  or  rain  squabbling  with  a  carcase 
butcher  for  a  shilling.  Sometimes,  if  the  beasts  had  not 
yet  arrived,  he  would  walk  on  in  the  mire  to  meet  them  ; 
and  more  than  once  he  has  gone  on  foot  the  whole  way  to 
his  farm,  which  was  seventeen  miles  from  London,  with- 
out stopping,  after  sitting  up  the  whole  night. 

The  principal  residence  of  Mr.  Elwes  at  this  period  of 
his  life,  was  at  his  own  seat  at  Marcham  in  Berkshire. 
Here  he  had  two  sons  born  by  Elizabeth  Moren,  his 
housekeeper  ;  and  these  natural  children  at  his  death,  in- 
herited by  will,  the  greatest  part  of  his  immense  property. 
He,  however,  paid  frequent  visits  to  his  uncle  Sir  Harvey, 
and  used  to  attend  him  in  his  favorite  amusement  of  par- 
tridge-setting. He  always  travelled  on  horseback,  and  to 
see  him  preparing  for  a  journey  was  a  matter  truly  cu- 
rious. His  first  care  was  to  put  two  or  three  eggs,  boiled 
hard,  into  his  great-coat  pocket,  together  with  a  few 
scraps  of  bread  ;  then  mounting  one  of  his  hunters,  his 
next  care  was  to  get  out  of  London  into  that  road  where 
there  were  the  fewest  turnpikes.  Stopping  on  these  oc- 
casions. 


262  LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELWES,  ESQ. 

casions,  under  any  hedge  where  grass  presented  itself  for 
his  horse,  and  a  little  water  for  himself,  he  would  sit  down 
and  refresh  himself  and  his  beast  together. 

On  the  death  of  his  uncle,  Mr.  Elwes  went  to  reside  at 
Stoke,  in  Suffolk.  Bad  as  was  the  mansion-house  he 
found  there,  he  left  one  still  worse  behind  him  at  March- 
am,  of  which  his  nephew,  the  late  Colonel  Timms  used 
to  relate  the  following  anecdote  : — A  few  days  after  he 
went  thither,  a  great  quantity  of  rain  falling  in  the  night, 
he  had  not  been  long  in  bed  before  he  found  himself  wet 
through,  and  found  that  the  rain  was  dropping  from  the 
ceiling  on  the  bed.  He  rose  and  moved  the  bed  ;  but  he 
had  not  lain  long  before  he  found  that  he  was  just  as 
much  exposed  as  before.  At  length  after  making  the 
tour  of  the  room  with  his  bed,  he  retired  into  a  corner 
where  the  ceiling  was  better  secured,  and  there  he  slept 
till  morning.  At  breakfast  he  told  Elwes  what  had  hap- 
pened. "  Aye,  aye,"  said  the  old  man  seriously,  "  I  don't 
mind  it  myself;  but  to  those  that  do,  that's  a  nice  corner 
in  the  rain." 

On  his  removal  into  Suffolk  Mr.  Elwes  first  began  to 
keep  fox-hounds,  and  his  stable  of  hunters  was,  at  that 
time,  considered  the  best  in  the  kingdom.  This  was  the 
only  instance  of  his  ever  sacrificing  money  to  pleasure; 
but  even  here  every  thing  was  managed  in  the  most  frugal 
manner.  His  huntsman  led  by  no  means  an  idle  life  : 
he  rose  at  four  every  morning,  and  after  milking  the 
cows,  prepared  breakfast  for  his  master,  and  any  friends 
he  might  happen  to  have  with  him ;  then  slipping  on  a 
great  coat,  he  hurried  into  the  stable,  saddled  the  horses, 
got  the  hounds  out  of  the  kennel,  and  away  they  went 
into  the  field.  After  the  fatigues  of  hunting,  he  refreshed 
himself  by  rubbing  down  two  or  three  horses  as  quickly 
as  possible ;  then  running  into  the  house,  he  would  lay 
the  cloth  and  wait  at  dinner.  This  business  being  dis- 
patched, 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELWES,  ESQ.  263 

patched,  he  again  hurried  into  the  stable  to  feed  the 
horses,  and  the  evening  was  diversified  with  an  interlude 
of  the  cows  again  to  milk,  the  dogs  to  feed,  and  eight 
horses  to  litter  down  for  the  night.  It  may,  perhaps, 
appear  extraordinary,  that  this  man  should  live  in  his 
place  some  years,  though  his  master  often  used  to  call 
him  an  idle  dog,  and  say,  the  rascal  ought  to  be  paid  for 
doing  nothing.  Thus  the  whole  fox-hunting  establish- 
ment of  Mr.  Elwes,  huntsman,  dogs,  and  horses,  did  not 
cost  him  three  hundred  pounds  a  year.  In  the  summer, 
the  dogs  always  passed  their  lives  with  tl  e  different 
tenants,  where  they  had  more  meat  and  less  work,  and 
were  collected  together  a  few  days  before  the  season 
began. 

While  he  kept  hounds,  which  was  for  a  period  of  nearly 
fourteen  years,  Mr.  Elwes  resided  almost  entirely  at 
Stoke,  in  Suffolk.  He  sometimes  made  excursions  to 
Newmarket,  but  never  engaged  on  the  turf.  A  kindness 
which  he  performed  on  one  of  these  occasions,  ought  not 
to  pass  unnoticed.  Lord  Abingdon,  who  was  slightly 
known  to  him  in  Berkshire,  had  made  a  match  for  70001. 
which  it  was  supposed  he  would  be  obliged  to  forfeit,  from 
inability  to  produce  the  sum,  though  the  odds  were 
greatly  in  his  favour.  Unasked  and  unsolicited,  Mr.  Elwes 
made  him  an  offer  of  the  money,  which  he  accepted,  and 
won  his  engagement. 

On  the  day  when  this  match  was  to  take  place,  a  cler- 
gyman agreed  to  accompany  Mr.  Elwes,  to  see  the  issue  of 
it.  They  went  on  horseback  ;  and  as  they  were  to  set  off 
at  seven  in  the  morning,  the  gentleman  took  no  refresh- 
ment, imagining  that  they  were  to  breakfast  at  New- 
market. About  eleven  [they  reached  that  place,  where 
Mr.  Elwes  was  occupied  in  enquiries  and  conversation 
till  twelve,  when  the  match  was  decided  in  favour  of  Lord 
Abingdon.  His  companion  now  expected  they  should 

move 


264  LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELWES,  ESQ. 

move  off  to  the  town,  to  take  some  breakfast,  but  Elwes 
still  continued  to  ride  about.  The  hour  of  four  at  length 
arrived,  at  which  time  the  gentleman  became  so  impa- 
tient, that  he  mentioned  something  of  the  keen  air  of 
Newmarket  Heath,  and  the  comforts  of  a  good  dinner, 
"Very  true,"  said  old  Elwes,  "  very  true.  So  here  do 
as  I  do,"  at  the  same  time  offering  him  from  his  great 
coat  pocket  a  piece  of  an  old  crusted  pancake,  which  he 
said  he  had  brought  from  his  house  at  Marcham  two 
months  before,  but  that  it  was  as  good  as  new.  It  was 
nine  in  the  evening  before  they  reached  home,  when  the 
gentleman  was  so  fatigued,  that  he  could  think  of  no  re- 
freshment but  rest ;  and  Elwes,  who  in  the  morning  had 
risked  seven  thousand  pounds,  went  to  bed  happy  in  the 
reflection  that  he  had  saved  three  shillings. 

He  had  brought  with  him  his  two  sons  out  of  Berkshire, 
to  his  seat  at  Stoke,  and  if  he  ever  manifested  a  fondness 
for  any  thing  it  was  for  those  boys.  But  he  would  lavish 
no  money  on  their  education,  often  declaring,  that  "put- 
ting things  into  people's  heads  was  taking  money  out  of 
their  pockets."  That  he  was  not,  however,  overburthened 
with  natural  affections,  the  following  anecdote  appears  to 
prove.  One  day  he  had  sent  his  eldest  boy  up  a  ladder, 
to  get  some  grapes  for  the  table,  when,  the  ladder  slip- 
ping, he  fell  down,  and  hurt  his  side  against  the  end  of  it. 
The  boy  took  the  precaution  to  go  up  to  the  village  to  the 
barber  and  get  blooded.  On  his  return,  being  asked  where 
he  had  been,  and  what  was  the  matter  with  his  arm,  he 
informed  his  father  that  lie  had  got  bled. — "Bled? 
bled,"  cried  the  old  gentleman  ;  "  but  what  did  you 
give?"  "A  shilling,"  answered  the  boy.  "Pshaw!"  re- 
turned the  father,  "  you  are  a  blockhead  ;  never  part  with 
your  blood  !" 

From  the  parsimonious  manner  in  which  he  lived,  and 
the  two  large  fortunes  of  which  he  was  possessed,  riches 

rolled 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ.  265 

rolled  in  upon  him  like  a  torrent ;  but  as  he  knew  scarcely 
any  thing  of  accounts,  and  never  reduced  his  affairs  to 
writing,  he  was  obliged,  in  the  disposal  of  his  money,  to 
trust  much  to  memory,  and  still  more  to  the  suggestions  of 
others.  Every  person  who  had  a  want  or  a  scheme,  with 
an  apparently  high  interest,  adventurer  or  honest,  it  sig- 
nified not,  was  prey  to  him.  He  caught  at  every  bait,  and 
to  this  cause  must  be  ascribed  visions  of  distant  property 
in  America,  phantoms  of  annuities  on  lives  that  could 
never  pay,  and  bureaus  filled  with  bonds  of  promising 
peers  and  senators.  In  this  manner  Mr.  Elwes  lost  at 
least  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds. 

Thus  there  was  a  reflux  of  some  portion  of  that 
wealth  which  he  was  denying  himself  every  comfort  to 
amass.  All  earthly  enjoyments  he  voluntarily  renounced. 
When  in  London,  he  would  walk  home  in  the  rain  rather 
than  pay  a  shilling  for  a  coach,  and  would  sit  in  wet 
clothes  rather  than  have  a  fire  to  dry  them.  He  would 
eat  his  provisions  in  the  last  stage  of  putrefaction,  rather 
than  have  a  fresh  joint  from  the  butcher  ;  and  at  one  time 
he  wore  a  wig  above  a  fortnight,  which  he  picked  up  out 
of  a  rut  in  a  lane,  and  which  had,  apparently,  been  thrown 
away  by  some  beggar.  The  clay  on  which  he  first  appeared 
in  this  ornament,  he  had  torn  an  old  brown  coat  which 
he  generally  wore,  and  had  therefore  been  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  the  old  chest  of  Sir  Jervaise,  (his  uncle's 
father)  from  which  he  selected  a  full-dress  green  velvet 
coat,  with  slash  sleeves ;  and  there  he  sat  at  dinner,  in 
boots,  the  above-mentioned  green  velvet,  his  own  white 
hair  appearing  round  his  face,  and  the  black  stray  wig  at 
the  top  of  all. 

Mr.  Elwes  had  inherited  from  his  father  some  property 
in  houses  in  London,  particularly  about  the  Haymarket. 
To  this  he  began  to  add  by  engagements  for  building, 
which  he  increased  from  year  to  year,  to  a  very  great  ex- 

Eccentric,   No.   VI.  MM  tent. 


266  LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ. 

tent.  He  was  the  founder  of  great  part  of  Marylebone  ; 
Portman  Place,  Portman  Square,  and  many  of  the  adja- 
cent streets  rose  out  of  his  pocket ;  and  had  not  the  fatal 
American  War  put  a  stop  to  his  rage  for  building,  much 
of  the  property  he  then  possessed,  would  have  been  laid 
out  in  bricks  and  mortar.  He  judiciously  became  his  own 
insurer,  and  stood  to  all  his  losses  by  conflagrations.  He 
soon  became  a  philosopher  upon  fire ;  and,  on  a  public- 
house  which  belonged  to  him  being  consumed,  he  said, 
with  great  composure,  '"'Well,  there  is  no  great  harm 
done  ;  the  tenant  never  paid  me,  and  I  should  not  have 
got  rid  of  him  so  quickly  in  any  other  way." 

It  was  the  custom  of  Mr.  Elwes,  whenever  he  came  to 
town,  to  occupy  any  of  his  premises  whicli  might  then 
chance  to  be  vacant.  In  this  manner  he  travelled  from 
street  to  street,  and  whenever  any  person  wished  to  take 
the  house  in  which  he  was,  the  owner  was  instantly  ready 
to  move  into  any  other.  A  couple  of  %  beds,  the  same 
number  of  chairs,  a  table,  and  an  old  woman,  comprized 
all  his  furniture,  and  he  moved  them  about  at  a  minute's 
warning.  Of  all  these  inoveables,  the  old  woman  was  the 
only  one  that  gave  him  any  trouble  ;  for  she  was  afflicted 
with  a  lameness,  that  made  it  difficult  to  get  her  about 
quite  so  fast  as  he  chose ;  and  besides,  the  colds  she  took 
were  amazing  ;  for  sometimes  she  was  in  a  small  house  in 
the  Hayinarket,  at  another  in  a  great  house  in  Portland 
Place  ;  sometimes  in  a  little  room  with  a  coal  fire,  at 
other  times  with  a  few  chips  which  the  carpenters  hud  left 
in  rooms  of  most  splendid,  but  frigid  dimensions,  and 
with  a  little  oiled  paper  in  the  windows  for  glass.  It 
might  with  truth  be  said  of  the  old  woman,  that  she  was 
"  here  to-day,  and  gone  to-morrow;"  and  the  scene  which 
terminated  her  life  is  not  the  least  singular  of  the  anec- 
dotes recorded  of  Mr.  Elwes. 

He  had  come  to  town,  and  as  usual,  had  taken  up  his 

abode 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ.  267 

abode  in  one  of  his  empty  houses.  Colonel  Tiinms,  who 
wished  much  to  see  him,  accidentally  learned  that  his  uncle 
was  in  London  ;  but  how  to  find  him  was  the  difficulty. 
In  vain  he  enquired  at  his  banker's  and  at  other  places  . 
some  days  elapsed,  and  he  at  length  learned  from  a  person 
whom  he  met  by  chance  in  the  street,  that  Mr.  Elwes  had 
been  seen  going  into  an  uninhabited  house,  in  Great 
Marlborough  Street.  This  was  some  clue  to  the  colonel, 
who  immediately  posted  to  the  spot.  As  the  best  mode 
of  gaining  intelligence  he  applied  to  a  chairman,  but  he 
could  obtain  no  information  of  a  gentleman  called  Mr. 
Elwes.  Colonel  Timms  then  described  his  person,  but 
no  gentleman  had  been  seen.  A  pot-boy  however,  recol- 
lected that  he  had  seen  a  poor  old  man  opening  the  door 
of  the  stable,  and  locking  it  after  him,  and  from  the 
description  it  agreed  with  the  person  of  Mr.  Elwes  ;  the 
colonel  proceeded  to  the  house,  and  knocked  very  loudly 
at  the  door,  but  could  obtain  no  answer,  though  some  of 
the  neighbours  said  they  had  seen  such  a  man.  He  now 
sent  for  a  person  to  open  the  stable  door,  which  being 
done,  they  entered  the  house  together.  In  the  lower 
part,  all  was  shut  and  silent ;  but  on  ascending  the  stair- 
case they  heard  the  moans  of  a  person  seemingly  in  dis- 
tress. They  went  to  the  chamber  and  there,  on  an  old 
pallet  bed,  they  found  Mr.  Elwes  apparently  in  the  ago- 
nies of  death.  For  some  time  he  seemed  quite  insensible  ; 
but  on  some  cordials  being  administered  by  a  neighbour- 
ing apothecary  who  was  sent  for,  he  recovered  sufficiently 
to  say  that  he  believed  he  had  been  ill  two  or  three  days  ; 
"  that  an  old  woman  who  was  in  the  house,  for  some  rea- 
son or  other,  had  not  been  near  him  ;  that  she  had  herself 
been  ill ;  but  he  supposed  she  had  got  well  and  was  gone 
away."  The  poor  old  woman,  the  partner  of  all  his  jour- 
nies,  was,  however,  found  lifeless  on  a  rug  upon  the  floor, 
in  one  of  the  garrets,  and  had,  to  all  appearance,  been 

M  M  2  dead 


268  LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ. 

dead  about  two  days.  Thus  died  the  servant,  and  thus, 
had  it  not  been  for  his  providential  discovery,  would  have 
perished  her  master,  Mr.  Elwes  ;  who,  though  worth  at 
least  half  a  million  sterling,  was  near  expiring  in  his  own 
house,  of  absolute  want. 

Mr.  Elwes  had  resided  thirteen  years  in  Suffolk,  when 
on  the  dissolution  of  parliament,  a  contest  appeared  likely 
to  take  place  for  Berkshire  :  but,  to  preserve  the  peace  of 
the  county,  he  was  nominated  by  Lord  Craven.  Mr. 
Elwes  consented,  but  on  the  express  stipulation,  that  he 
was  to  be  brought  in  for  nothing.  All  he  did,  was  to  dine 
at  the  ordinary  at  Abingdon,  so  that  he  actually  obtained 
a  seat  in  parliament  for  the  moderate  sum  of  eighteen 
pence.  At  this  time  he  was  nearly  sixty  years  old,  but 
was  in  possession  of  all  his  activity.  He  now  left  Suffolk, 
and  again  went  to  his  seat  at  Marcham.  He  took  his 
fox-hounds  with  him,  but  finding  that  his  time  was  likely 
to  be  much  employed,  he  resolved  to  part  with  them,  and 
they  were  soon  afterwards  given  away  to  some  farmers  in 
the  neighbourhood.  He  was  chosen  for  Berkshire  in 
three  successive  parliaments,  and  sat  as  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Commons  about  twelve  years.  It  is  to  his 
honour,  that  in  every  part  of  his  parliamentary  conduct, 
and  in  every  vote  he  gave,  he  sought  no  other  guide  than 
his  conscience,  and  proved  himself  to  be  an  independent 
country  gentleman. 

In  his  attendance  on  his  senatorial  duties,  Mr.  Elwes 
was  extremely  punctual  :  he  always  staid  out  the  whole 
debate,  and  let  the  weather  be  what  it  might,  he  used  to 
walk  from  the  House  of  Commons  to  the  Mount  coffee- 
house. In  one  of  these  pedestrian  returns,  a  circumstance 
occurred  which  furnished  him  a  whimsical  opportunity  of 
displaying  his  disregard  of  his  person.  The  night  was 
very  dark,  and  hurrying  along,  he  ran  with  such  violence 
against  the  pole  of  a  sedan-chair,  that  he  cut  both  his  legs 

very 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELWES,  ESQ.  269 

very  deeply.  He,  as  usual,  never  thought  of  having  any 
medical  assistance,  but  Colonel  Timms,  at  whose  house 
he  then  was,  insisted  on  some  one  being  called  in.  He 
at  length  submitted,  and  an  Apothecary  was  sent  for,  who 
immediately  began  to  expatiate  on  the  ill  consequences  of 
breaking  the  skin,  the  good  fortune  of  his  being  sent  for, 
and  the  peculiarly  bad  appearance  of  Mr.  Elwes'  wound. 
"  Very  probably,"  replied  Mr.  Elwes;  "but  Mr. — ,  I  have 
one  thing  to  say  to  you.  In  my  opinion  my  legs  are  not 
much  hurt;  now  you  think  they  are;  so  I  will  make  this 
agreement.  I  will  take  one  leg  and  you  shall  take  the 
other  :  you  shall  do  what  you  please  with  your's,  I  will  do 
nothing  to  mine;  and  I  will  wager  your  bill  that  my  leg 
gets  well  before  your's."  He  exultingly  beat  the  apothe- 
cary by  a  fortnight. 

Mr.  Elwes,  when  he  conceived  that  he  had  obtained  a 
seat  in  parliament  for  nothing,  had  not  taken  into  ac- 
count the  inside  of  the  house  ;  for  he  often  declared  that 
three  contested  elections  could  not  have  cost  him  more 
than  he  lost  by  loans  to  his  brother  representatives,  which 
were  never  repaid.  His  parsimony  was  the  chief  cause 
of  his  quitting  parliament,  for  such  was  the  opinion  his 
constituents  entertained  of  his  integrity,  that  a  very  small 
expence  would  have  restored  him  to  his  seat.  He  there- 
fore voluntarily  retired  from  a  parliamentary  life. 

About  this  time  he  lost  his  famous  servant  of  all  work. 
He  died  as  he  was  following  his  master  on  a  hard  trotting 
horse  into  Berkshire,  and  he  died  empty  and  poor;  for 
his  yearly  wages  were  not  above  five  pounds,  and  he  had 
fasted  the  whole  day  on  which  he  expired.  The  life  of 
this  extraordinary  domestic  certainly  verifies  this  saying, 
which  Mr.  Elwes  often  used  :  "  If  you  keep  one  servant 
your  work  is  done  ;  if  you  keep  two  it  is  half  done ;  but 
if  you  keep  three  you  may  do  it  yourself." 

Among  the  sums  which  Mr.  Elwes  injudiciously  vested 

in 


270  LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELWES,  ESQ. 

in  the  hands  of  others,  some  solitary  instances  of  generosity 
are  upon  record.  When  his  son  was  in  the  guards,  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  dining  frequently  at  the  officer's  table. 
The  politeness  of  his  manners  rendered  him  generally 
agreeable,  and  in  time  he  became  acquainted  with  every 
officer  of  the  corps.  Among  these  was  Captain  Tempest, 
whose  good  humour  was  almost  proverbial.  A  vacancy 
happened  in  a  majority,  it  fell  to  this  gentleman  to  pur- 
chase, but  as  money  cannot  always  be  raised  immediately 
on  landed  property,  it  was  imagined  that  he  would  have 
been  obliged  to  suffer  some  other  officer  to  purchase  over 
his  head.  Mr.  Elvves  one  day  hearing  the  circumstance, 
sent  him  the  money  the  next  morning,  without  asking 
any  security.  He  had  seen  Captain  Tempest  and  liked 
his  manners;  and  he  never  once  spoke  to  him  afterwards 
concerning  the  payment ;  but  on  the  death  of  that  officer, 
which  soon  followed,  the  money  was  replaced. 

At  the  close  of  the  spring  of  1785,  he  again  wished  to 
see  his  seat  at  Stoke,  which  he  had  not  visited  for  some 
years;  but  the  journey  was  now  a  serious  object.  The 
famous  old  servant  was  dead  ;  out  of  his  whole  stud  he 
had  remaining  only  a  couple  of  worn-out  brood  mares; 
and  he  himself  no  longer  possessed  such  vigour  of  body  as 
to  ride  sixty  or  seventy  miles  with  two  boiled  eggs.  At 
length,  to  his  no  small  satisfaction,  he  was  carried  into 
the  country,  as  he  had  been  into  parliament,  free  of  ex- 
pence,  by  a  gentleman  who  was  certainly  not  quite  so  rich 
as  himself.  On  his  arrival  he  found  fault  with  the  ex- 
pensive furniture  of  the  rooms,  which  would  have  fallen 
in  but  for  his  son  John  Elwes,  Esq.  who  had  resided  there. 
If  a  window  was  broken,  there  was  to  be  no  repair,  but 
that  of  a  little  brown  paper,  or  piecing  in  a  bit  of  broken 
glass ;  and  to  save  fire  he  would  walk  about  the  remains 
of  an  old  green  house,  or  sit  with  a  servant  in  the  kitchen. 
During  the  harvest,  he  would  amuse  himself  with  going 

into 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  ELWES,  ESQ.  271 

into  the  fields,  to  glean  the  corn  on  the  ground  of  his 
own  tenants ;  and  they  used  to  leave  a  little  more  than 
common  to  please  the  old  gentleman,  who  was  as  eager 
after  it  as  any  pauper  in  the  parish. 

When  the  season  was  still  farther  advanced,  his  morn- 
ing employment  was,  to  pick  up  any  stray  chips,  bones,  or 
other  things,  to  carry  to  the  fire  in  his  pocket;  and  he 
was  one  day  surprised  by  a  neighbouring  gentleman  in 
the  act  of  pulling  down,  with  some  difficulty,  a  crow's 
nest  for  this  purpose.  The  gentleman  expressed  his 
wonder  why  He  gave  himself  this  trouble,  to  which  he  re- 
plied, "O  Sir,  it  is  really  a  shame  that  these  creatures 
should  do  so.  Only  see  what  waste  they  make." 

To  save  the  expence  of  going  to  a  butcher,  he  would 
have  a  whole  sheep  killed,  and  so  eat  mutton  to  the  end 
of  the  chapter.  When  he  occasionally  had  his  river 
drawn,  though  sometimes  horse-loads  of  fish  were  taken, 
he  would  not  suffer  one  to  be  thrown  in  again,  observing, 
that  if  he  did,  he  should  never  see  them  more.  Game  in 
the  last  stage  of  putrefaction,  and  meat  that  walked  about 
his  plate,  he  would  continue  to  eat,  rather  than  have  new 
things  killed  before  the  old  provision  was  exhausted. 
With  this  diet  his  dress  kept  pace.  When  any  friends 
who  might  happen  to  visit  him,  were  absent,  he  would 
carefully  put  out  his  own  fire,  and  walk  to  the  house  of  a 
neighbour,  making  one  fire  serve  both.  His  shoes  he 
would  never  suffer  to  be  cleaned,  lest  they  should  be  worn 
out  the  sooner.  "When  he  went  to  bed  he  would  put 
five  or  ten  guineas  into  a  bureau,  and  would  rise  some- 
times in  the  middle  of  the  night,  to  go  down  stairs  and 
see  if  they  were  safe.  There  was  nothing  but  the  common 
necessaries  of  life,  which  he  did  not  deny  himself,  and  it 
would  have  admitted  of  a  doubt  whether,  if  he  had  not 
held  in  his  own  hands  manors  and  grounds,  which  fur- 
nished him  a  subsistence,  he  would  not  have  starved  ra- 
ther 


2?2  LIFE  OF  JOHN    ELWES,  ESQ. 

ther  than  have  bought  any  thing.  He  one  day  dined  on 
the  remnant  of  a  moor-hen,  which  had  been  brought  out 
of  the  river  by  a  rat,  and  at  another,  ate  the  undigested 
part  of  a  pike,  which  had  been  swallowed  by  a  larger  one, 
taken  in  this  state  by  a  net.  On  the  latter  occasion,  he 
observed  with  great  satisfaction:  "Aye!  this  is  killing 
two  birds  with  one  stone." 

Mr.  Elwes  passed  the  spring  of  1786  alone,  at  Stoke, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  some  little  daily  scheme  of  avarice, 
he  would  have  passed  it  without  one  consolatory  moment. 
His  temper  began  to  give  way ;  his  thoughts  were  inces- 
santly occupied  with  money,  and  he  saw  no  person  but 
what,  as  he  imagined,  was  deceiving  and  defrauding  him. 
As  he  would  not  allow  himself  any  fire  by  day,  so  he  re- 
tired to  bed  at  its  close,  to  save  candle ;  and  even  began 
to  deny  himself  the  luxury  of  sheets.  In  short,  he  had 
now  nearly  brought  to  a  climax  the  moral  of  his  whole 
life, — the  perfect  vanity  of  wealth  ! 

On  removing  from  Stoke,  he  went  to  his  farm  at  Thay- 
don-hall,  a  scene  of  greater  ruin  and  desolation,  if  pos- 
sible, than  either  of  his  houses  in  Suffolk  or  Berkshire. 
It  stood  alone  on  the  borders  of  Epping  Forest,  and  an 
old  man  and  woman,  his  tenants,  wrere  the  only  persons 
with  whom  he  could  hold  any  converse.  Here  he  fell 
ill,  and  as  he  refused  all  assistance,  and  had  not  even  a 
servant,  he  lay,  unattended,  and  almost  forgotten,  indulg- 
ing, even  in  the  prospect  of  death,  that  avarice,  which 
nothing  could  subdue.  It  was  at  this  period  he  began  to 
think  of  making  his  will ;  as  he  was  probably  sensible, 
that  his  sons  could  not  be  entitled  by  law,  to  any  part  of 
his  property,  should  he  die  intestate.  On  his  arrival  in 
London,  he  put  his  design  in  execution,  and  devised  all 
his  real  and  personal  estates  to  his  two  sons,  who  were  to 
share  the  whole  of  his  vast  property,  equally  between 
them. 

Soon 


LIFE    OF    JOHX    ELWES,     ESQ.  273 

Soon  after  this  Mr.  Elwes  gave,  by  letter  of  attorney, 
the  power  of  managing  all  his  concerns,  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Ingraham,  his  attorney,  and  his  youngest  son,  who 
had  been  his  chief  agent  for  some  time.  This  step  had 
become;highly  necessary,  for  he  entirely  forgot  all  recent 
occurrences,  and  as  he  never  committed  any  thing  to 
writing,  the  confusion  he  made  was  inexpressible.  Of  this 
the  following  anecdote  may  serve  as  an  instance  :  He 
had  one  evening  given  a  draft  on  Messrs.  Hoares,  his 
bankers,  for  twenty  pounds,  and  having  taken  it  into  his 
head  during  the  night,  that  he  had  overdrawn  his  account, 
his  anxiety  was  unceasing.  He  left  his  bed  and  walking 
about  the  room  with  that  feverish  irritation  that  always 
distinguished  him,  waited  with  the  utmost  impatience  for 
the  morning:  when,  on  going  to  his  banker  with  an  apo- 
logy for  the  great  liberty  he  had  taken,  lie  was  assured 
there  was  no  occasion  to  apologize,  as  he  happened  to  have 
in  his  hands  at  that  time,  the  small  sum  of  fourteen  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  pounds. 

However  singular  this  act  of  forgetfulness  may  appear, 
it  serves  to  mark  that  extreme  conscientiousness  which, 
amidst  all  his  anxiety  about  money,  did  honour  to  his 
character.  If  accident  placed  him  in  debt  to  any  person, 
even  in  the  most  trivial  manner,  he  was  never  easy  till  it 
was  paid,  and  he  was  never  known  on  any  occasion  to  fail 
in  what  he  said.  Of  the  punctuality  of  his  word  he  was 
so  scrupulously  tenacious,  that  no  person  ever  requested 
better  security. 

The  summer  of  1788,  Mr.  Elwes  passed  at  his  house  in 
Welbeck  Street,  London,  without  any  other  society  than 
that  of  two  maid-servants.  His  chief  employment  used 
to  be  that  of  getting  up  early  in  the  morning,  to  visit  his 
houses  in  Marylebone,  which  were  repairing.  As  he  was 
there  generally  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning;,  and  of 

C  v 

course  long  before  the  workmen,  he  used  to  sit  down  con- 
Ecentric.  No.  VI.  >-  \  tcnU-dlv 


274  LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ. 

tenteclly  on  the  steps  before  tlic  door,  to  scold  them  when 
they  did  come.  The  neighbours,  who  used  to  see  him 
appear  so  regularly  every  morning-,  and  concluded  from 
his  apparel  that  he  was  one  of  the  workmen,  observed, 
that  "  there  never  was  such  a  punctual  man  as  the  Old 
Carpenter  /" 

Mr.  Elwes  had  now  attained  the  age  of  seventy -six, 
and  began  for  the  first  time,  to  feel  some  bodily  infirmi- 
ties from  age.  He  experienced  some  occasional  attacks 
of  the  gout;  on  which,  with  his  accustomed  perseverance 
and  antipathy  to  apothecaries  and  their  bills,  he  would 
set  out  to  walk  as  far,  and  as  fast  as  he  could.  While  en- 
gaged in  this  painful  mode  of  cure,  he  frequently  lost 
himself  in  the  streets,  the  names  of  which  he  no  longer 
remembered,  and  was  as  often  brought  home  by  some 
errand-boy  or  stranger,  of  whom  he  had  enquired  his 
way.  On  these  occasions,  he  would  bow,  and  thank  them 
with  great  politeness,  at  the  door,  but  never  indulged 
them  with  a  sight  of  the  interior  of  the  house. 

Another  singularity  was  reserved  for  the  close  of  Mr. 
Elwes'  life,  which,  considering  his  disposition  and  ad- 
vanced life,  was  not  less  extraordinary  than  many  already 
recorded.  He,  who  had  during  his  whole  life  been  such 
an  enemy  to  giving',  now  gave  away  his  affections.  One 
of  the  maid  servants  with  whom  he  had  been  for  some 
time  accustomed  to  pass  his  hours  in  the  kitchen,  had  the 
art  to  induce  him  to  fall  in  love  with  her,  and  had  it  not 
been  discovered,  it  is  doubtful  whether  shewould  not 
have  prevailed  upon  him  to  marry  her.  From  such  an 
act  of  madness  he  was  however  saved  bv  »'ood-fortnne,  and 

i/     ^3 

the  attention  of  his  friends. 

His  son  George,  having  now  married  and  settled  at  his 
seat  at  Mareham,  was  naturally  desirous  that  in  the  assi- 
duities of  his  wife,  his  father  mio'ht  at  leno-th  find  a  com- 

C5  O 

fbrtable  home.       A   journey  with  any  expence  annexed  to 

it, 


LIFE    OF    JOHN    ELWES,    ESQ.  275 

it,  was  however,  an  insurmountable  obstacle.  This  was 
fortunately  removed,  by  an  offer  from  Mr.  Partis,  gentle- 
man of  the  law,  to  take  him  to  his  ancient  seat  in  Berk- 
shire, with  his  purse  perfectly  whole.  Still  there  was  ano- 
ther circumstance  not  a  little  distressing;  the  old  gentle- 
man had  now  nearly  worn  out  his  last  coat,  and  could 
not  afford  to  buy  a  new  one.  His  son  therefore  with  pious 
fraud,  requested  Mr.  Partis  to  buy  him  a  coat,  and  make 
him  a  present  of  it.  Thus  formerly  having  had  a  good 
coat,  then  a  bad  one,  and  at  last  no  coat  at  all,  he  was 
glad  to  accept  one  of  a  neighbour. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  old  gentleman,  his  son  and  his  wife 
neglected  nothing  that  was  likely  to  render  the  country  a 
sceneof  quiet  to  him.  But  he  carried  that  within  his  bosom, 
which  baffled  every  effort  of  the  kind.  His  mind  cast 
away  on  the  vast  and  troubled  ocean  of  his  property,  exten- 
ding beyond  the  bounds  of  his  calculation,  amused  itself 
with  fetching  and  carrying  a  few  guineas,  which  in  that 
ocean  were  indeed  but  a  drop. 

The  first  symptoms  of  more  immediate  decay,  was  his 
inability  to  enjoy  his  rest  at  night.  He  was  frequently 
heard  at  midnight,  as  if  struggling  with  some  one  in  his 
chamber,  and  crying  out,  "  I  will  keep  my  money,  I  will  ; 
nobody  shall  rob  me  of  my  property  !"  If  any  one  of  the 
family  entered  the  room,  he  would  start  from  his  fever  of 
anxiety,  and  as  if  waking  from  a  troubled  dream,  hurry 
into  bed  again,  and  seem  unconscious  of  what  had  hap- 
pened. At  other  times  when  perfectly  awake,  he  would 
walk  to  the  spot  where  he  had  concealed  his  money  to 
sec  if  it  was  safe.  In  the  autumn  of  1789,  his  memory 
was  gone  entirely;  his  senses  sunk  rapidly  into  decay, 
and  as  his  mind  became  unsettled,  gusts  of  the  most 
violent  passion  began  to  usurp  the  place  of  his  former  com- 
mand of  temper.  For  six  weeks  previous  to  his  death, 
he  would  go  lo  rest  in  his  clothes,  as  perfectly  dressed  as 

N   N  '2  during 


276  STONE    EXTRACTED    FROM    A    HORSE. 

during  the  day.  He  was  one  morning  found  fast  asleep 
between  the  sheets,  with  his  shoes  on  his  feet,  his  stick  in 
his  hand,  and  an  old  torn  hat  on  his  head.  His  singular 
appetite  he  retained  till  within  a  few  days  of  his  disso- 
lution, and  walked  on  foot  twelve  miles  only  a  fortnight 
before  he  died. 

On  the  18th  of  November  he  manifested  signs  of  that 
total  debility  which  carried  him  to  his  grave  in  eight 
days.  On  the  evening  of  the  first  day  he  was  conveyed 
to  bed,  from  which  he  rose  no  more.  His  appetite  was 
gone  :  he  had  but  a  faint  recollection  of  every  thing 
about  him  and  the  last  intelligible  words  he  uttered  were 
addressed  to  his  son  John,  hoping  "  he  had  left  him  what 
he  wished."  On  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  November 
he  expired  without  a  sigh  ;  leaving  property  to  the  amount 
of  above  800,0001.  The  value  of  that  which  he  had  be- 
queathed to  his  two  sons,  was  estimated  at  half  a  million, 
and  the  remainder,  consisting  of  entailed  estates,  devolved 
to  Mr  Timms,  son  of  the  late  Lieutenant- Colonel  Timms, 
of  the  second  troop  of  Horse  Guards. 


A  Stone  of  extraordinary  Size  extracted  from  the  Intestines 
of  a  Horse. 

IN  the  month  of  June,  1737,  a  horse  aged  seventeen 
vears,  belonging  to  Sir  Henry  Hicks,  of  Deptford,  died  of 
convulsive  pains  in  his  bowels,  to  which  he  had  been  fre- 
quently subject.  He  was  therefore  cut  up  for  the  dogs, 
and  during  the  operation  some  person  thrust  a  pitchfork 
into  his  guts,  which  struck  against  something  very  hard. 
On  opening*  the  stomach  there  was  found  a  stone  of  asto- 

i.  O 

mailing  size,  of  a  figure  not  perfectly  spherical,  but  some- 
\\luil  flatted,  in  the  form  of  an  oblate  spheriod.  Its  great- 
est circumference  was  twenty-eight  inches  and  its  least 
twenty-iive,  it  weighed  full  nineteen  pounds  averdupois, 

exclusive 


REMARKABLE  OCCURRENCES  ON  PARTICULAR  DAYS.        277 

exclusive  of  a  crust  or  shell  which  almost  surrounded  it, 
and  was  in  some  parts  three  tenths,  but  in  others  not 
above  one  tenth  of  an  inch  thick.  It  was  composed  of 
two  substances,  the  inner  thick,  brown  and  shining,  re- 
sembling black  rosin;  the  outer  thin,  hard,  white  and 
smooth,  like  the  external  tabula  of  a  human  skull.  In 
some  places  pieces  of  straw,  hay,  and  the  like,  adhered  to 
it,  and  were  mixed  with  some  conglutinous  matter ;  these 
had  altogether  become  so  dry  and  hard  as  to  resemble 
stone. 


Remarkable  Occurrences  on  particular  days. 


U, 


PON  the  Gth  of  April,  Alexander  the  Great  was  born  ; 
upon  the  same  day  he  conquered  Darius,  won  a  great  vic- 
tory at  sea,  and  died. 

Neither  was  this  day  less  fortunate  to  his  father  Philip  ; 
for  on  the  same  he  took  Pontidea,  Parmenio  his  General 
gave  a  great  overthrow  to  the  Illyrians,  and  his  horse 
was  victor  at  the  Olympic  games ;  and  therefore  the  pro- 
phets foretold  that  a  son,  whose  birth-day  was  accompa- 
nied by  three  victories,  would  prove  invincible. 

Upon  the  30th  of  September  Pompey  the  Great  was 
born  ;  upon  the  same  day  he  triumphed  for  his  Asian  con- 
quest, and  on  that  day  died. 

The  1 9th  cf  August  was  the  day  of  Augustus's  adoption  ; 
on  the  same  day  he  began  his  consulship,  he  conquered 
the  Triumviri,  and  on  the  same  day  he  died. 

The  llth  of  February  was  the  noted  day  of  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  Henry  Vllth,  who  was  born  and  died  on  the  same 
day. 

The  23d  of  November  was  the  remarkable  day  of 
Francis  Duke  of  Lunenburg,  who  was  born  on  that  day, 
and  died  upon  the  same  1549. 

Sir  Kenehn  Digby,  that  renowned  Knight,  great  Lin- 
guist, 


278      REMARKABLE  OCCURRENCES  ON  PARTICULAR  DAYS. 

guist,  and  Magazine  of  Arts,  was  born  and  died  on  the 
llth  of  June,  and  also  on  the  same  day  fought  success- 
fully at  Scanderoon. 

Mr.  J.  Gibbon  had  a  maternal  uncle  that  died  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1678,  which  was  the  anniversary  of  his 
birth;  and  who  many  years  before  foretold,  that  the  day 
of  his  birth  would  be  that  of  his  death. 

The  6th  of  January  was  five  times  auspicious  to  Charles, 
Duke  of  Anjou. 

The  24th  of  February  was  four  times  fortunate  to 
Charles  the  Fifth. 

Of  the  family  of  the  Trevors,  six  successive  principal 
branches  were  born  on  the  6th  of  July. 

Sir  Humphrey  Davenport,  was  born  on  the  7th  of  July, 
and  on  that  day's  anniversary  his  father  and  mother  died 
within  a  quarter  of  an  hour  of  each  other. 

Constantius  the  Emperor,  son  of  Constantine  the  Great, 
little  inferior  to  his  father,  a  worthy  warrior  and  good 
man,  died  the  3d  of  November. 

Thomas  Mountacute,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  that  great  man 
and  famous  commander  under  Henry  the  4th,  5th,  and 
6th,  died  on  the  same  day  of  a  wound  he  received  at  the 
battle  of  Orleans. 

Cardinal  Borromeo,  famous  for  his  sanctity  of  life,  and 
therefore  canonised,  who  made  Milan  famous  by  his  resi- 
dence there,  likewise  died  on  the  3d  of  November. 

Sir  John  Perrot,  a  man  very  remarkable  in  his  time, 
Lord  deputy  of  Ireland,  son  to  Henry  the  eighth,  and 
very  much  like  him,  died  in  the  Tower,  on  the  same  day 
in  1592. 

On  the  3d  of  November  the  Sea  broke  over  the  banks 
of  many  river?,  destroying  divers  towns  and  villages,  both 
ia  Scotland  and  England,  with  a  number  of  persons  and 
un  innumerable  quantity  of  oxen  and  cattle  ;  at  which 
iiiue  the  lauds  in  Kent,  at,  that  time  belonging  to  Earl 

Goodwin. 


REMARKABLE  OCCURRENCES  ON    PARTICULAR  DAYS.     279 

Goodwin,  were  covered  with  sand  and  drowned,  and  to 
this  day  are  called  Goodwin's  Sands. 

The  Parliament,  so  fatal  to  the  affairs  of  Rome  in  Eng- 
land, in  Henry  the  eighth's  time,  began  on  the  3d  of 
November,  in  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  his  reign  ;  in  which 
the  Pope  was  banished  the  kingdom,  with  all  his  autho- 
rity, to  be  called  only  the  Bishop  of  Rome;  the  King  to 
be  taken  and  reputed  the  supreme  head  of  the  Church  of 
England,  having  full  authority  to  reform  all  heresies  and 
abuses,  and  the  first  fruits  and  tenths  of  all  promotions 
were  granted  to  the  King. 

On  the  3rd  of  November  1G49,  began  that  parliament, 
so  fatal  to  the  peace,  the  religion,  the  wealth,  the  no- 
bility, the  gentry,  and  even  to  the  King  himself. 

The  3d  of  September  was  a  memorable  day  to  Oliver 
Cromwell.  In  1615  he  obtained  a  victory  at  Dunbar, 
another  at  Worcester;  and  on  that  day,  in  1658,  he  died. 

Upon  Tuesday,  Thomas  Becket  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury suffered  ;  upon  Tuesday  he  was  translated  ;  upon 
Tuesday  the  Peers  of  the  Realm  sat  against  him  at  Nor- 
thampton ;  upon  Tuesday  he  was  banished  ;  upon  Tues- 
day the  Lord  appeared  to  him  at  Pontiniac,  saying,  "  Tho- 
mas, Thomas,  my  church  shall  be  glorified  in  thy  blood  ;" 
upon  Tuesday  he  returned  from  exile ;  upon  Tuesday  he 
got  the  Palm  or  reward  of  Martyrdom  ;  and  upon  Tues- 
day, 1220,  his  body  received  the  glory  and  renown  of 
translation. 

Wednesday  is  said  to  have  been  the  fortunate  day  of 
Sixtus  Quintus,  that  Pope  of  renowned  merit,  that  did  so 
many  and  such  excellent  things  in  the  government.  On 
Wednesday  he  was  born  ;  on  that  day  he  was  made  Monk  ; 
on  the  same  day  he  was  made  General  of  his  order ;  on 
that  day  also  he  was  created  Cardinal,  elected  Pope,  and 
also  inaugurated. 

Friday  was  very  fortunate  to  Captain  Gonsalvo,  he  hav- 
ing 


289  HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON. 

ing  on  that  day  given  the  French  many  memorable  de- 
feats. 

Saturday  was  a  fortunate  day  to  Henry  Vllth.  Upon 
that  day  he  achieved  the  victory  over  Richard  Hid. 
being  August  the  22d,  1485;  on  that  day  he  entered  the 
city,  being  August  the  29th. 

Thursday  was  a  fatal  day  to  Henry  VHIth,  and  like- 
wise to  his  posterity  ;  he  died  on  Thursday,  January  28th. 
King  Edward  Vlth  on  Thursday,  January  6th.  Queen 
Mary  on  Thursday,  November  17th.  Queen  Elizabeth 
on  Thursday,  March  24th. 

Saturday,  or  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  was  fatal  to  the  tem- 
ple of  Jerusalem  :  for  on  that  day  it  was  taken  by  Pompey, 
Herod,  and  Titus,  successively. 


Interesting  History  of  the  Discovery  and  Education  of  the 
Young  Savage  caught  in  the  woods  of  Avcynon,  in 
France,  in  the  year  1798. 

With  a  correct  Portrait,  and  a  Scene  in  the  narrative. 

JL  HE  History  of  Peter  the  Wild  Boy,  who  died  about 
twenty  years  since,  is  doubtless  well  known  to  most 
of  our  readers,  by  the  account  given  of  him  by  the  late 
Lord  Monboddo,  in  his  ancient  Metaphysics.  The  sub- 
ject of  the  following  pages  was  discovered  under  similar 
circumstances,  and  if  he  has  approached  more  nearly  to 
the  state  of  civilised  man,  it  can  only  be  attributed  to 
the  superior  attention  which  has  been  paid  to  the  deve- 
lopement  of  his  physical  and  moral  faculties. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1798,  a  child  who  ap- 
peared to  be  about  eleven  or  twelve  years  of  age,  and 
who  had  several  times  before  been  seen  in  the  woods  of 
Caune  in  France,  seeking  acorns  and  roots,  on  which 
he  subsisted,  was  caught  by  three  sportsmen,  who  seized 

him 


/'/'//  J/f/  ///    /// f   •  'f'/'c-J/-;  I"/  •    //'<•• 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SAVAGE    OF    AVEVNON.  281 

at  the  moment  he  was  climbing  a  tree  to  avoid  them. 
They  carried  him  to  a  neighbouring  village,  where  he  was 
placed  under  the  care  of  an  old  woman,  from  whom  he, 
however,  found  means  to  escape  before  the  end  of  the 
week,  and  fled  to  the  mountains,  where  he  wandered  about 
during  the  winter,  which  was  uncommonly  severe,  with- 
out any  clothing  but  a  ragged  shirt.  At  night  he  retired 
to  solitary  places,  but  in  the  day  approached  nearer  the 
houses  and  villages. 

He  thus  passed  a  roving  life,  till,  at  length  he  volun- 
tarily took  refuge  in  a  house  in  the  canton  of  St.  Sernin. 
After  being  there  kept  two  or  three  days,  he  was  then  sent 
to  the  hospital  of  St.  Afrique,  whence  he  was  removed  to 
Rhodez,  where  he  remained  several  months.  During  his 
abode  in  these  different  places,  he  always  seemed  to  be 
wild  ,  impatient  of  restraint,  and  capricious ;  and  con- 
stantly intent  on  getting  away. 

How  this  unfortunate  child  was  at  first  reduced  to  that 
state  of  total  abandonment,  in  which  he  was  discovered, 
it  is  impossible  to  ascertain.  One  circumstance,  however, 
affords  room  to  conjecture,  that  he  was  destined  for  one 
of  the  victims  of  that  sanguinary  revolution,  which  occa- 
sioned the  shedding  of  such  torrents  of  innocent  blood. 
On  the  fore-part  of  his  neck,  was  a  scar  of  considerable 
extent,  which  appeared  to  have  proceeded  from  a  wound, 
made  by  some  sharp  instrument.  It  may  reasonably  be 
presumed,  that  some  person  more  disposed  than  accus- 
tomed to  acts  of  cruelty,  had  attempted  the  life  of  the 
child,  and  that,  left  for  dead  in  the  woods,  he  owed  to  the 
timely  assistance  of  nature,  the  cure  of  his  wound.  Be- 
sides this,  he  had  on  various  parts  of  his  body,  twenty- 
three  scars,  some  of  which  appeared  to  have  come  from 
the  bites  of  animals,  and  others  from  scratches  and  ex- 
coriations ;  affording  incontestible  evidence  of  the  long 
and  total  abandonment  of  the  unfortunate  youth.  From 

Eccentric,  No.   VI.  o  o  the 


282  HISTORY    OF    THE    SAVAGE    OF    AVEYNON. 

the  testimony  of  the  country  people  who  lived  near  the 
woods  in  which  he  was  found,  he  must  have  pussed  in  ab- 
solute solitude  seven  years  out  of  the  twelve  which 
was  supposed  to  be  his  age  when  caught  in  the  woods  of 
Caune. 

When  he  was  first  taken  into  society  he  lived  on  acorns, 
potatoes,  and  raw  chesnuts,  eating  husks  and  all.  In 
spite  of  the  utmost  vigilance,  he  was  frequently  near 
escaping,  and  at  first  exhibited  great  unwillingness  to  lie 
in  a  bed.  His  eyes  were  without  steadiness  and  expres- 
sion, wandering  from  one  object  to  another,  and  never 
fixing  on  any.  The  organ  of  hearing  was  equally  insen- 
sible to  the  loudest  noises  and  the  most  harmonious  music  : 
that  of  voice  was  still  more  imperfect,  for  he  could  utter 
only  a  guttural  and  monotonous  sound.  He  seemed  to  be 
alike  indifferent  to  the  smell  of  the  most  delicious  per- 
fumes, and  the  most  fetid  exhalations,  and  his  sense  of 
feeling  was  limited  to  those  mechanical  functions  occa- 
sioned by  the  dread  of  objects  that  might  be  in  his 
way. 

The  young  Savage  was  by  no  means  destitute  of  intelli- 
gence. During  an  intercourse  of  six  weeks  with  society, 
he  had  learned  to  prepare  his  food  with  a  great  degree  of 
care  and  attention.  M.  Bonaterre  informs  us,  that, 
during  his  stay  at  Rhodez,  his  employment  was  shelling 
kidney-beans,  and  that  greater  discernment  could  not 
have  been  shewn  by  the  person  the  most  accustomed  to 
the  employment.  As  soon  as  the  pods  were  brought  him, 
he  fetched  a  kettle,  and  arranged  his  materials  in  the 
middle  of  the  apartment,  in  the  most  commodious  man- 
ner possible,  placing  the  kettle  on  his  right  hand,  and 
the  beans  on  his  left.  The  shells  be  opened  one  after  the 
other  with  admirable  dexterity,  putting  the  good  grains 
into  the  kettle,  and  throwing  away  Jhe  bad ;  and  if  any 
grain  happened  to  escape  him,  he  took  it  up  and  placed  it 

with 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SAVAGE    OF    AVEYNON.  283 

with  the  others.  He  formed  a  separate  heap  of  the  empty 
shells,  and  when  his  work  was  finished,  he  filled  the 
kettle  with  water  and  placed  it  on  the  fire,  on  which 
he  threw  the  empty  husks  to  increase  the  heat. 

A  divine,  distinguished  for  his  love  of  science,  conceiv- 
ing that  this  youth  might  be  the  means  of  throwing  some 
new  light  on  the  moral  philosophy  of  man,  obtained  per- 
mission for  his  removal  to  Paris.  He  arrived  in  the  me- 
tropolis about  the  end  of  the  year  1799,  under  the  care 
of  a  respectable  old  man,  who  being  soon  afterwards 
obliged  to  leave  him,  promised  to  receive  and  be  a  father 
to  him,  if  he  should  at  any  time  be  abandoned  by 
society. 

Even  before  the  arrival  of  the  young  savage,  all  Paris 
was  in  a  ferment,  and  the  most  extraordinary  expecta- 
tions were  formed  concerning  him.  Some  anticipated 
the  pleasure  of  witnessing  his  astonishment,  at  the  sight 
of  the  magnificence  of  the  capital,  while  others  con- 
ceiving that  his  education  would  be  the  business  of  only 
a  few  months,  imagined  they  should  soon  hear  him  make 
the  most  striking  observations  on  his  past  life.  They 
flocked  from  all  parts  to  behold  the  novelty ;  they  saw  a 
disgusting  slovenly  boy,  affected  with  spasmodic,  and 
frequently  with  convulsive  motions,  continually  balancing 
himself  like  some  of  the  wild  animals  in  the  menagerie, 
biting  and  scratching  all  who  displeased  him,  expressing 
no  affection  for  any  one ;  indifferent  to  every  body,  and 
paying  regard  to  nothing. 

Such  an  object  it  may  naturally  be  supposed  would  ex- 
cite only  a  momentary  curiosity.  The  administrators  of 
the  institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  in  which  he  had 
been  placed,  consigned  him  to  the  particular  care  of 
Madame  Guerin,  who  discharged  the  arduous  task  with 
ail  the  patience  of  a  mother,  and  the  intelligence  of  an 
enlightened  instructor.  At  the  same  time,  M.  Itard, 

o  o  2  physician 


284  HISTORY    OF    THE    SAVAGE   OF    AVEYNON. 

physician  to  the  institution,  was  charged  to  commence 
with  him  a  course  of  medical  treatment,  in  order  that  by 
the  combination  of  physical  and  moral  remedies,  the  two- 
fold incapacity  under  which  he  laboured,  might  be  the 
more  effectually  removed. 

M.  Itard's  first  object  was   to  attach  him  to  social  life, 
by  rendering  it  more   pleasing  to  him  than  that  which  he 
before  led,  without  subjecting  him   to  a  change  that  was 
too  great  and  sudden.     Like  some  savages  in  the  warmer 
climates,  he  was    probably  acquainted  in   his  wild  state 
with    only  four   circumstances;   to  sleep,  to  eat,    to   do 
nothing,  and    to  run  about  in  the  fields.     To  make  him 
happy,  it  was  therefore   necessary  to  put  him  to  bed  at 
the  close  of   day,  to  provide    him  abundantly  with  food 
suited  to  his  taste,  to  bear  with  his  indolence,  and  to  ac- 
company him  in   his  walks   or  rather  races  in  the  open 
air.     These  excursions  appeared  more   agreeable  to  him 
when  any  sudden  and    violent  change  took  place  in  the 
atmosphere.     He  has,  for   example,  been  observed  in  his 
chamber,  directing  his  eyes  towards  the  window,  and  fix- 
ing them  on  the  external  objects.     If  a  boisterous  wind 
arose,    if  the    sun    suddenly    burst  forth    from  behind    a 
cloud,    he    expressed    his    joy    by    convulsive    peals    of 
laughter,  during  which  all  his  gestures  seemed  to  indicate 
a   wish   to    spring  out    of  the   window  into  the  garden. 
Sometimes  he  manifested  a  species  of  madness,  wringing 
his  hands,  gnashing  his  teeth,  and  becoming  formidable 
to  those  about  him.     One   morning  after  a  heavy  fall  of 
snow,  he  leaped  from  his  bed  as  soon  as  he  awoke,  uttered 
a  cry  of  joy,  ran  to  the  window  and  then  to  the  door 
with  the  utmost  impatience,  and   at  length   escaped  un- 
dressed   into  the  garden.     There  he  manifested  signs  of 
the  highest  pleasure  ;  he  ran  about,  rolled  in  the  snow, 
and  taking  it  up  in  both    his  hands,  he  devoured  it  with 
excessive  avidity. 

lu 


HISTORY  OF  THE   SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON.  285 

In  some  instances,  however,  the  sight  of  the  grand 
phenomena  of  nature  appeared  to  produce  sorrow  and 
melancholy.  When  the  severity  of  the  season  had  driven 
every  other  person  out  of  the  garden,  he  still  delighted  to 
walk  there ;  after  taking  many  turns  he  would  seat 
himself  beside  a  bason  of  water.  Here  his  convulsive 
motions,  and  the  continual  balancing  of  his  whole  body 
diminished,  and  gradually  gave  way  to  a  more  tranquil 
attitude  ;  his  face  insensibly  assumed  the  character  of 
sorrow,  or  melancholy  reverie,  while  his  eyes  were  sted- 
fastly  fixed  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  he  threw  into 
it  from  time  to  time,  some  withered  leaves.  In  a  moon- 
light night,  when  the  rays  of  that  luminary  entered  his 
room,  he  seldom  failed  to  awake  and  to  place  himself  at 
the  window.  Here  he  would  remain  for  a  considerable 
time  motionless,  with  his  neck  extended,  and  his  eyes 
fixed  on  the  moonlight  landscape,  and  wrapped  in  a 
kind  of  contemplative  extacy,  whose  silence  was  inter- 
rupted only  by  profound  inspirations  accompanied  with  a 
feeble  and  plaintive  sound.  To  oppose  these  habits  would 
have  been  equally  useless  and  inhuman  :  on  the  contrary, 
M.  Itard  wished  to  'associate  them  with  his  new  mode  of 
life,  in  order  to  make  it  the  more  agreeable.  He  how- 
ever endeavoured,  and  by  degrees  succeeded  in  his  at- 
tempts, to  render  his  excursions  less  frequent,  his  meals  less 
copious,  and  repeated  at  longer  intervals,  the  time  he 
passed  in  bed  much  shorter,  and  his  exercise  more  subser- 
vient to  his  instruction. 

The  second  object  of  M.  Itard  was,  by  means  of  pow- 
erful stimulants,  and  sometimes  by  lively  affections  of 
the  mind,  to  awaken  the  nervous  sensibility,  which  he 
seemed  at  first  to  possess  in  a  very  slight  degree.  He 
has  frequently  been  seen,  while  amusing  himself  in  the 
winter,  in  the  garden  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  to  squat 
clown  half  naked  on  the  wet  turf,  and  remain  exposed 

for 


28()  HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON. 

for  hours  together  to  wind  and  rain.  He  was  equally 
insensible  to  the  most  violent  heat;  for  it  frequently  hap- 
pened, that,  when  he  was  near  the  fire,  and  live  coals 
fell  out  of  the  grate,  he  snatched  them  up  and  threw 
them  back  with  the  utmost  indifference.  He  has  more 
than  once  been  observed  in  the  kitchen,  taking  potatoes 
out  of  the  boiling  water  with  his  hand.  Snuff  did  not 
produce  in  him  any  disposition  to  sneeze,  and  notwith- 
standing the  severe  measures  which  it  was  at  first  found 
necessary  to  adopt,  he  was  never  known  to  shed  a  tear. 

Of  all  his  senses,  his  ear  appeared  to  be  the  most  insen- 
sible. The  loudest  noise,  as  the  explosion  of  fire-arms 
close  by  his  ear,  produced  scarcely  any  emotion,  and  yet 
the  noise  occasioned  by  the  cracking  of  a  walnut,  a  fruit 
of  which  he  was  remarkably  fond,  never  failed  to  attract 
his  attention.  The  same  effect  was  invariably  produced, 
if  a  person  touched  the  key  of  the  door  which  held  him 
captive,  when  he  would  instantly  turn  round  and  run 
towards  the  place  from  which  the  noise  proceeded. 

Heat  was  the  medium  by  which  M.  Itard  endeavoured 
to  develope  the  dormant  sensibility  of  the  young  savage. 
He  did  not  think  it  sufficient  to  provide  him  with  com- 
fortable clothing,  a  warm  bed  and  lodging,  but  directed 
him  to  be  put  into  the  hot  bath  for  two  or  three  hours 
every  day.  The  effect  answered  his  expectation.  In  a 
short  time  the  young  savage  appeared  evidently  sensible 
to  the  action  of  cold ;  he  ascertained  with  his  hands  the 
temperature  of  the  bath,  and  would  not  go  into  it  if  it 
was  not  sufficiently  warm.  From  the  same  cause  he 
soon  learned  to  appreciate  the  utility  of  clothes,  to  which 
he  could  before  scarcely  be  induced  to  submit.  When 
he  perceived  their  advantage,  it  was  easy  to  oblige  him 
to  dress  himself.  This  end  was  in  a  few  days  obtained, 
by  leaving  him  exposed  every  morning  within  the  reach  of 
his  clothes,  till  he  found  out  of  himself  how  to  put  them  on. 

The 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON.  287 

The  only  mental  affections  of  which  he  was  at  this 
time  susceptible,  were  joy  and  anger,  and  these  M.  Itard 
occasionally  excited.  The  latter  he  provoked  only  at  dis- 
tant intervals  ;  and  he  sometimes  remarked  that  at  the 
moment  of  his  most  violent  indignation,  his  understand- 
ing' seemed  to  acquire  a  temporary  enlargement.  Once 
while  the  physician  and  his  governess  were  endeavouring 
to  persuade  him  to  make  use  of  the  bath,  when  it  was 
only  moderately  warm,  their  urgent  entreaties,  at  length, 
threw  him  into  a  violent  passion.  Perceiving  that  his 
governess  was  not  convinced  of  the  coldness  of  the  water, 
notwithstanding  the  repeated  trials  lie  had  made  with  his 
fingers,  he  suddenly  turned  round,  seized  her  hand,  and 
plunged  it  with  his  own  into  the  bath. 

If  his  anger  was  sometimes  purposely  excited,  yet  no 
opportunity  was  omitted  to  afford  him  pleasure,  and 
nothing  was  more  easy  than  to  produce  this  effect.  The 
sun's  rays  received  on  a  mirror  and  reflected  in  his 
chamber,  a  glass  of  water  made  to  fall  drop  by  drop 
from  a  certain  height,  on  the  ends  of  his  fingers,  while 
bathing,  or  a  little  milk  in  a  wooden  porringer,  placed 
at  the  farther  end  of  the  bath,  and  moved  about  by  the 
oscillation  of  the  water,  raised  in  him  the  most  powerful 
emotion  of  joy,  which  he  expressed  by  shouting  and 
clapping  his  hands,  and  these  simple  expedients  were 
sufficient  to  delight  this  child  of  nature  almost  to  in- 
toxication. 

The  result  of  this  treatment  was,  in  the  short  space  of 
three  months,  a  general  excitement  of  all  his  sensitive 
powers.  The  touch  by  that  time  appeared  sensible  to 
the  impression  of  all  bodies  whether  warm  or  cold,  smooth 
or  rough,  soft  or  hard.  The  sense  of  smell  was  improved 
in  a  similar  manner,  and  the  least  irritation  now  excited 
sneezing.  From  the  horror  with  which  he  was  seized, 
the  first  time  this  happened,  it  was  presumed  that  it  was 

a  thin"' 


288  HISTORY   OF  THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON. 

a  thing  altogether  new  to  him.  The  sense  of  taste  was 
improved  in  a  still  greater  degree.  The  articles  of  food 
on  which  he  subsisted  for  some  time  after  his  arrival  at 
Paris,  were  excessively  disgusting  ;  he  dragged  them 
about  his  room,  and  ate  them  out  of  his  hand  besmeared 
with  filth.  So  great  was  the  change  which  had  taken 
place  in  this  respect,  that  he  now  threw  away  the  con- 
tents of  his  plate,  if  any  particle  of  dust  or  dirt  had  fallen 
upon  it,  and  after  he  had  broken  his  walnuts  with  his 
foot,  he  cleaned  them  in  the  most  careful  manner. 

The  developement  of  the  understanding  of  this  youth 
by  giving  him  new  wants  and  multiplying  his  relations 
with  surrounding  objects,  was  a  business  of  much  greater 
difficulty.  Toys  of  every  kind  were  given  him,  and  the 
greatest  pains  were  taken  to  teach  him  the  use  of  them, 
but  instead  of  engaging  his  attention,  they  only  tended 
to  excite  fretfulness  and  impatience,  so  that  whenever 
a  favourable  opportunity  offered,  he  always  endeavoured 
to  conceal  or  destroy  them. 

M.  Itard,  however,  invented  some  means  of  attaching 
him  to  certain  amusements  connected  with  his  appetite 
for  food.  One  of  these  was  to  place  in  an  inverted 
position,  several  goblets  or  cups,  under  which  he  put  a 
chesnut,  and  to  raise  them  one  after  the  other,  excepting 
that  which  inclosed  the  fruit.  He  then  replaced  them, 
and  by  signs,  desired  the  youth  to  look  for  the  chesnut, 
and  he  never  failed  to  pitch  at  first  on  the  gobblet  beneath 
which  the  recompence  of  his  attention  was  concealed. 
This  simple  effort  of  memory,  his  instructor  gradually 
rendered  more  complicated,  and  his  experiments  were 
attended  with  results  equally  satisfactory.  His  discern- 
ment in  these  cases  was,  however,  merely  excited  by 
the  instinct  of  appetite.  To  render  his  attention  less  in- 
terested and  less  animal,  he  afterwards  put  under  the 
goblets  things  which  were  not  eatable.  These  he  found 

with 


HISTORY    OF    THK    SAVAGE    OF    AVEYNON.  289 

with  the  same  facility  as  the  chesnuts,  and  these  trials 
were  found  to  excite  the  exercise  of  his  judgment,  and  to 
produce  a  habit  of  fixed  attention. 

Convinced  of  the  powerful  influence  of  the  sports  of 
infancy,  and  the  various  little  pleasures  of  the  palate,  on 
the  first  developements  of  the  mind,  M.  Itard  neglected 
no  method  of  awakening  those  inclinations.  He  offered 

w 

him  those  dainties,  which  are  most  coveted  by  children, 
hoping  to  derive  from  them  new  means  of  reward,  encou- 
ragement and  instruction.  But  the  aversion  he  expressed 
for  sweet-meats  and  delicacies  of  every  kind,  was  in- 
surmountable. He  then  tried  liquors  and  highly-stimu- 
lating food,  but  with  no  better  success ;  so  that  despairing 
of  being  able  to  inspire  his  pupil  with  any  new  taste,  he 
was  obliged  to  make  the  most  of  the  small  number  of 

o 

those,  to  which  his  appetite  was  confined,  by  endeavour- 
ing, as  much  as  possible,  to  increase  the  pleasure  he  re- 
ceived from  their  indulgence.  With  this  view  he  fre- 
quently took  him  to  dine  with  him,  having  previously 
directed  a  complete  collection  of  his  favourite  dishes  to 
be  provided.  The  first  time  he  was  at  a  feast  of  this  kind, 
his  joy  rose  almost  to  frenzy,  and  on  leaving  the  house, 
he  even  carried  away  with  him  a  plate  of  lentiles  which 
he  had  stolen  from  the  kitchen.  By  repeating  this  plea- 
sure, it  was  soon  converted  into  a  want,  the  gratification 
of  which  produced  uncommon  satisfaction  and  delight. 

When  M.  Itard  took  the  youth  out  with  him,  he  found 
it  impossible  to  keep  him  in  proper  order  in  the  streets  ; 
he  was  either  obliged  to  go  on  the  full  trot  vrith  him,  or 
to  employ  the  utmost  violence  to  make  him  walk  at  a 
moderate  pace.  He  was  therefore  under  the  necessity  of 
taking  a  coach  when  he  went  out,  and  this  was  another 
new  pleasure,  which  attached  the  young  savage  still  more 
to  his  frequent  excursions,  so  that  in  a  short  time  they 
became  real  wants,  and  if  he  was  deprived  of  the  gratifi- 

Ecccntric,  3ro.  VII.  r  r  cation 


290  HISTORY    OP    THE    SAVAGE    OF    AVEYNON. 

cation  rather  longer  than  usual,  he  became  fretful,  restless, 
and  low-spirited. 

But  if  his  excursions  in  town  afforded  him  delight,  he 
received  ten-fold  pleasure  from  country  visits.  It  was  a 
spectacle  equally  curious  and  interesting,  to  observe  the 
joy  that  was  expressed  in  his  eyes  and  in  every  attitude, 
at  the  view  of  the  hills  and  woods.  He  appeared  more 
restless  and  savage  than  ever  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  most 
assiduous  attention  that  was  paid  to  his  wishes,  and  the 
most  affectionate  regard  expressed  for  him,  he  seemed  to 
be  ever  intent  only  on  the  means  of  effecting  his  escape. 
For  this  reason  M.  Itard  judged  it  prudent  not  to  expose 
him  to  such  trials,  but  to  confine  his  walks  to  those  gar- 
dens in  the  vicinity  of  Paris,  whose  formal  regularity 
bears  no  resemblance  to  the  scenes  of  wild,  uncultivated 
nature.  Madame  Guerin  took  him  sometimes  to  the 
Luxembourg,  and  almost  every  day  to  the  garden  of  the 
Observatory,  where  M.  Lemeri,  the  inspector,  allowed 
him  to  take  a  daily  repast  of  milk. 

His  new  habits  and  the  tenderness  that  was  shewn  him 
at  length  began  to  inspire  the  youth  with  a  fondness  for 
his  new  situation.  He  likewise  conceived  a  lively  attach- 
ment for  his  governess,  which  he  would  sometimes  testify 
in  the  most  affectionate  manner.  He  could  never  leave 
her  without  evident  uneasiness,  nor  meet  her  again  with- 
out expressing  his  satisfaction.  Once  after  he  had  slipped 
from  her  in  the  streets,  on  again  seeing  her,  he  burst  into 
tears.  For  several  hours  he  appeared  much  dejected,  and 
Madame  Guerin  having  then  gently  reproached  him,  his 
eyes  again  overflowed  with  tears. 

The  endeavours  of  M.  Itard  to  lead  his  pupil  to  the 
use  of  speech,  have  not  been  attended  with  very  brilliant 
success.  During  the  first  four  or  five  months  of  his  resi- 
dence at  Paris,  the  young  savage  appeared  sensible  only 
to  those  particular  sounds,  which  have  already  been  al- 
luded 


HISTORY    OF    THE    SAVAGE    OF    AVEYNON.  291 

luded  to.  He  soon  afterwards  seemed  to  understand  the 
human  voice,  and  if  two  persons  were  conversing  in  a 
high  tone  in  the  gallery  that  led  to  his  chamber,  he  would 
go  repeatedly  to  the  door  to  see  whether  it  was  properly 
secured,  and  even  take  the  precaution  to  put  his  finger 
on  the  latch  to  be  still  farther  satisfied.  He  likewise  dis- 
tinguished the  guttural  sound  continually  uttered  by  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  and  seemed  able  to  ascertain  the  place 
whence  it  came  ;  for  if  he  heard  it  while  going  down 
stairs,  he  never  failed  to  turn  back,  or  to  descend  more 
hastily,  according  as  the  noise  came  from  below  or 
above. 

A  still  more  interesting  remark  was  soon  afterwards 
made  by  his  instructor.  One  day,  while  he  was  in  the 
kitchen  boiling  potatoes,  two  persons  were  standing  be- 
hind him,  disputing  with  greath  warmth,  without  his  ap- 
pearing to  pay  any  attention  to  them.  A  third  came  in, 
and  joining  in  the  conversation,  began  all  his  replies  with 
the  exclamation  O  !  As  often  as  it  escaped  him,  the  savage 
suddenly  turned  his  head  ;  which  induced  M.  Itard  after- 
wards, to  make  some  farther  experiments  with  that  par- 
ticular sound,  from  which  he  obtained  similar  results.  He 
likewise  tried  all  the  other  vowels,  but  without  success  ; 
and  in  consequence  of  this  preference  for  o,  he  gave  the 
youth  a  name,  in  which,  according  to  the  French  pronun- 
ciation, that  letter  is  very  strongly  expressed.  This  name 
was  Victor,  which  lie  still  retains. 

As  yet,  Victor  has  made  no  great  progress  in  speaking  ; 
the  only  words  he  has  learned  to  utter  being,  Lait,  (milk) 
and  the  exclamation,  O  Dieu  !  (O  God !)  which  he  has 
learned  of  Madame  Guerin.  Among  the  other  impedi- 
ments, that  contribute  to  retard  his  improvement  in  arti- 
culate utterance,  is  the  facility  he  shews  in  expressing  in 
other  ways,  the  small  number  of  his  wants.  When  for 

p  p  2  instance, 


292  HISTORY    OF   THE    SAVAGE    OF    AVEYNON. 

instance,  the  hour  for  walking  arrives,  he  runs  repeatedly 
backward  and  forward,  between  the  window  and  the  door 
of  his  room,  and  if  he  perceives  that  his  governess  is  not 
ready,  he  fetches  and  lays  in  order  all  the  articles  of  her 
dress  necessary  for  the  purpose,  and  even  begins  to  put 
them  on  for  her.  He  then  goes  down  stairs  before  her 
and  opens  the  door.  The  first  thing  he  does  on  his  arrival 
at  the  Observatory,  is  to  ask  for  some  milk,  by  presenting 
a  wooden  bowl,  which  on  going  away  he  never  forgets  to 
take  with  him.  With  this  be  provided  himself  the  day 
after  he  had  broken  a  china  cup,  which  used  to  be  em- 
ployed for  the  same  purpose.  If  he  wants  to  dine,  he 
himself  lays  the  cloth,  and  puts  the  plates  into  the  hands 
of  Madame  Guerin,  that  she  may  go  and  fill  them.  When 
he  dines  in  town  with  his  instructor,  he  expresses  all  his 
wishes  to  the  lady  who  does  the  honours  of  the  table.  If 
she  appears  not  to  understand  him,  he  puts  his  plate  by 
the  side  of  the  dish  from  which  he  wishes  to  be  helped, 
fixing  his  eyes  steadily  upon  it.  If  this  fails  of  producing 
the  desired  effect,  he  strikes  with  a  fork  twice  or  three 
times  on  the  edge  of  the  dish,  and  if  she  still  neglects 
him,  he  loses  all  patience ;  he  plunges  a  spoon  or  even  his 
hand  into  the  dish,  and  in  an  instant  empties  the  whole 
to  hi  s  own  plate. 

His  manner  of  expressing  the  affections  of  the  mind, 
particularly  impatience  and  ennui,  is  equally  strong. 
When  fatigued  with  the  length  of  the  visits  of  inquisitive 
strangers,  he  dismisses  them  with  more  frankness  than 

O  7 

politeness,  presenting  to  each,  but  without  an  air  of  con- 
tempt, their  cane,  gloves,  and  hat,  then  pushing  them 
gently  towards  the  door,  which  he  shuts  after  them  with 
creat  violence.  This  kind  of  language  Victor  understands, 

O  w         C3 

when  employed  by  others,  with  the  same  facility  as  he 
uses  it  himself;  and  his  readiness  in  this  respect  is  truly 

astonishing 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON.  293 

astonishing,  for  it  requires  no  previous  instruction  to  make 
him  comprehend  the  meaning  of  signs  which  he  has  never 
seen  before. 

We  shall  not  enter  into  a  minute  detail  of  the  means 
employed  to  exercise  Victor's  intellectual  faculties,  with 
regard  to  the  objects  of  his  appetites  ;  these  consisted  only 
in  placing  between  him  and  his  wants,  such  obstacles  as 
he  could  not  surmount,  without  perpetually  exercising  his 
attention,  memory,  judgment,  and  all  the  functions  of  his 
senses.  Thus  all  the  faculties  subservient  to  his  instruc- 
tion were  developed,  and  nothing  more  required  to  be 
done,  than  to  find  out  the  most  easy  method  of  turning 
them  to  account. 

Little  progress  had  been  made  with  regard  to  the  sense 
of  hearing,  so  that  in  this  respect  Victor  was  only  on  a 
level  with  one  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  this  considera- 
tion induced  M.  Itard  to  try  the  method  adopted  in  that 
institution,  tie  drew  upon  a  black  board  the  figures  of 
various  objects,  as  a  key,  scissars,  a  hammer,  &c.  and  sus- 
pending beneath  each  of  them  the  object  represented, 
he  left  him  for  some  time.  They  were  then  taken  away 
and  given  to  Victor.  After  a  few  unsuccessful  experi- 
ments, Victor  learned  to  replace  them  in  proper  order, 
not  by  memory,  but  by  a  comparison  of  the  figure  with 
the  object.  Having  gained  this  object,  M.  Itard  now  pro- 
ceeded to  the  second  degree  of  comparison,  which  is  far 
more  difficult  than  the  former.  The  instructors  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  having  taught  the  relation  which  the 
thing  bears  to  the  design,  place  above  the  latter  the  letters 
which  form  the  name  of  the  object  represented  by  the 
figure.  They  then  erase  the  figure,  and  leave  only  the 
alphabetical  signs.  This  change  of  design,  the  object  of 
which  soon  becomes  familiar  to  the  deaf  and  the  dumb, 
proved,  however,  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  the  far- 
ther progress  of  young  Victor,  who,  notwithstanding  all 

the 


294  HISTORY  OF    THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON. 

the  pains  bestowed  by  his  instructor,  never  could  learn 
the  connection  between  the  thing  and  the  word,  so  that 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  seek  some  method  more 
suited  to  his  faculties. 

It  was  with  this  view,  that  M.  Itard  formed  his  new 
plan  of  proceeding.  He  pasted  on  a  board  three  pieces 
of  paper  of  very  different  forms  and  colours,  and  fastened 
three  pieces  of  pasteboard  of  the  same  colour  and  figure, 
on  the  board  by  the  side  of  their  respective  models.  These 
Victor  learned  to  replace  without  any  difficulty  by  com- 
parison, as  was  found  by  inverting  the  board,  and  conse- 
quently reversing  the  order  of  the  figures.  A  second 
board  was  then  submitted,  on  which  the  same  figures 
were  represented,  but  all  of  a  uniform  colour;  and  after- 
wards a  third  on  which  the  figures  were  alike,  but  the  co- 
lours different,  and  these  experiments  were  attended  with 
the  most  satisfactory  results.  Additions  and  variations 
were  now  made ;  new  figures  were  added,  the  forms  of 
which  were  much  less  distinct,  and  new  colours  which 
had  but  a  slight  shade  of  difference.  These  alterations 
occasioned  some  errors  and  perplexities,  but  a  few  days 
practice  soon  rendered  them  familiar. 

This  success  induced  M.  Itard  to  try  new  changes,  gra- 
duallyincreasing  in  difficulty.  He  daily  added,  retrench- 
ed, and  altered,  till  at  length  the  complication  of  these 
exercises  quite  exhausted  his  pupil's  attention  and  doci- 
lity. Those  emotions  of  rage  and  impatience  which  burst 
forth  with  such  violence  during  the  first  weeks  of  his  re- 
sidence in  Paris,  whenever  he  was  unexpectedly  confined 
to  his  chamber,  now  again  overpowered  him.  His  in- 
structor conceived  that  he  ought  no  longer  to  appease 
these  emotions  by  complaisance,  but  that  it  was  his  duty 
to  endeavour  to  overcome  them  by  decision.  His  perse- 
verance, however,  lasted  only  a  few  days,  being  com- 
pletely overcome  by  the  unconquerable  independence  of  his 

spirit. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON.  295 

spirit.  His  paroxysms  of  rage  became  more  frequent 
and  more  violent,  but  his  passion  was  directed  less 
against  persons  than  things  :  when  in  this  humour  he 
would  gnaw  not  only  his  bed-clothes,  but  even  the  mantle- 
piece;  throw  the  fire-irons,  the  cinders,  and  the  hot  coals 
about  the  room,  and  conclude  the  scene  by  falling  into 
convulsions,  producing  symptoms  resembling  those  of 
epilepsy.  M.  Itard  was  now  obliged  to  yield,  and  this 
conduct  had  no  other  effect  than  to  increase  the  evil. 
Finding  that  he  had  no  reason  to  expect  advantage  from 
gentleness,  he  resolved  to  adopt  a  different  mode  of  treat- 
ment, and  to  try  what  terror  would  effect.  An  opportu- 
nity soon  presented  itself.  During  a  most  violent  fit  of 
passion,  caused  by  the  repetition  of  the  usual  exercises, 
he  took  advantage  of  the  moment,  before  the  functions 
of  Victor's  senses  were  suspended,  and  suddenly  opening 
the  window  of  the  chamber,  which  was  on  the  fourth 
story,  and  looking  down  on  a  rough  pavement,  he  ap- 
proached the  youth  with  every  appearance  of  anger,  forci- 
bly seized  and  held  him  out  of  the  window,  with  his 
face  turned  towards  the  ground.  When  he  withdrew  him 
after  a  few  seconds,  from  this  situation,  Victor  appeared 
pale  and  covered  with  a  cold  sweat;  his  eyes  were  moist- 
ened with  tears,  and  he  was  agitated  with  a  slight  tremb- 
ling, which  must  doubtless  be  attributed  to  fear.  M.  Itard 
then  insisted  on  his  resuming  the  employment  he  had  left 
and  which  he  completed,  without  venturing  to  betray  any 
impatience.  He  then  threw  himself  on  his  bed  and  burst 
into  a  flood  of  tears. 

This  act  of  severity  was  attended  with  the  most  salutary 
effects.  His  disgust  of  labour,  though  not  entirely  sur- 
mounted, was,  at  least,  greatly  diminished  ;  and  this  fa- 
vourable change  encouraged  his  preceptor  to  makesome 
new  modifications,  that  appeared  still  better  calculated  to 
fix  his  attention  and  to  improve  his  judgment.  He  printed 

the 


296  HISTORY  OF  THE  SAVAGE  OF  AVEYNON. 

the  letters  of  the  alphabet  in  large  characters  on  pieces 
of  pasteboard,  and  then  cut  in  a  board  the  same  number 
of  squares,  in  which  he  placed  the  pieces  of  pasteboard. 
An  alphabet  of  metal  characters  was  then  procured, 
which  the  pupil  was  to  compare  with  the  printed  letters 
and  to  class  in  the  corresponding  squares.  The  first  trial 
of  the  efficacy  of  this  method,  was  made  by  Madame  Gue- 
rin,  and  M.  Itard  was  surprised  to  learn  that  Victor  dis- 
tinguished all  the  characters,  and  classed  them  in  a  pro- 
per manner.  He  was  again  put  to  the  trial,  and  performed 
his  task  without  committing  the  least  error. 

Curiosity,  rather  than  the  expectation  of  success,  now 
suggested  to  M.  Itard  the  following  experiment.  One 
morning,  while  Victor  was  impatiently  waiting  for  his 
milk,  his  instructor  arranged  on  a  board  the  letters  of  the 
word  Lait  (milk).  Madame  Guerin,  whom  he  had  ac- 
quainted with  his  design,  approached,  looked  at  the  cha- 
racters, and  gave  him  a  bowl  of  rnilk,  as  if  for  his  own 
use.  He  then  advanced  to  Victor,  gave  him  the  four  let- 
ters he  had  taken  from  the  board,  pointing  to  it  with  one 
hand,  while  with  th<>  other  he  presented  him  with  the 
bowl  of  milk.  The  letters  were  immediately  replaced, 
but  at  first  in  an  inverted  order.  Five  or  six  attempts, 
however,  not  only  taught  him  how  to  arrange  the  letters 
methodically,  but  likewise  gave  him  an  idea  of  the  con- 
nection that  existed  between  the  word  and  the  thing. 
This  was  proved  a  few  days  afterwards,  when,  just  before 
his  evening  excursion  to  the  observatory,  he  provided 
himself  of  his  own  accord  with  the  four  letters,  put  them 
in  his  pocket,  aiid  immediately  on  his  arrival  at  the  house 
of  M.  Lemeri,  whither,  as  it  has  already  been  observed, 
he  went  every  day  to  take  milk,  he  produced  the  letters 
on  a  table  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  the  word  lait. 

From  all  the  preceding  observations,  it  appears  that 
the  child,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Savage  of  Aveynon, 

i? 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ARCTIC  FOXES.  297 

is  endowed  with  the  perfect  exercise  of  his  senses ;  that 
he  evinces  abundant  proofs  of  attention,  reflection,  and 
memory;  that  he  is  able  to  compare,  discern,  aud  judge, 
and  in  a  word,  to  apply  all  the  faculties  of  his  under- 
standing to  the  objects  which  are  connected  with  his  in- 
struction. If  such  a  happy  change  has  been  produced 
by  the  efforts  of  nine  months,  it  is  surely  not  unrea- 
sonable to  presume,  that  a  steady  perseverance  in  the 
plan  hitherto  pursued,  will  at  length  be  attended  with  a 
success  equal  to  the  most  sanguine  expectations. 

The  equally  interesting  account  of  several  other  unfor- 
tunate beings,  discovered  in  similar  circumstances  with  the 
savage  of  Aveynon,  will  be  given  in  a  future  number  of 
this  work. 


Interesting  account  of  the  Singular  Manners  and  Surprising 
Dexterity  of  the  Arctic  Foxes, 

AN  the  year  1740,  the  Russian  Government  dispatched 
two  vessels  under  tbe  command  of  Captain  Beering,  to 
explore  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  and  the  islands 
lying  between  it  and  the  Asiatic  continent.  The  ships 
were  soon  parted  by  tempestuous  weather,  and  sepa- 
rately continued  their  voyage. 

The  crew  of  Beering's  vessel  was  under  the  necessity 
of  passing  the  winter  on  an  uninhabited  island,  where 
the  commander,  with  many  of  his  crew,  died,  and  to  which 
the  survivors  gave  the  name  of  Beering's  island. 

It  was  during  their  residence  here,  that  Steller,  a  man 
of  letters,  attached  to  the  expedition,  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  observing  the  manners  of  the  Arctic  Fox,  an  ani- 
mal far  exceeding  the  common  fox  in  impudence,  cun- 
ning and  roguery,  and  of  which  he  has  given  the  follow- 
ing entertaing  description. 

Eccentric,  No.  VU.  Q  <i  During 


298  ACCOUNT   OF    THE    ARCTIC    FOXES. 

During  my  unfortunate  abode  on  Beering's  Island, 
says  Steller,  I  had  opportunities  more  than  enough  to 
study  the  nature  of  these  animals.  The  narrative  of  the 
innumerable  tricks  they  played  us,  might  vie  with  Al- 
bertus  Jalius's  History  of  the  Apes  on  the  island  of  Saxen- 
burg.  They  forced  themselves  into  our  habitations  by 
night  as  well  as  by  day,  stealing  all  that  they  could 
carry  off,  even  things  that  were  of  no  use  to  them,  as 
knives,  sticks,  and  clothes.  They  were  so  inconceivably 
ingenious  as  to  roll  down  our  casks  of  provisions,  each 
weighing  several  poods  (a  pood  is  equal  to  forty  Russian 
pounds,  each  somewhat  less  than  the  English  pound) 
and  then  steal  the  meat  out  of  them  so  ably,  that,  at 
first,  we  could  not  persuade  ourselves  to  ascribe  the  theft 
to  them.  As  we  stripped  an  animal  of  its  skin,  it  often 
happened  that  we  could  not  avoid  stabbing  two  or  three 
foxes,  on  account  of  their  rapacity  in  tearing  the  flesh 
out  of  our  hands.  If  we  buried  it  ever  so  carefully,  and 
even  added  stones  to  the  weight  that  was  upon  it,  they 
not  only  found  it  out,  but  with  their  shoulders  shoved 
away  the  stones,  lying  under  them,  and  helping  one 
another  with  all  their  might.  If,  in  order  to  secure  it,  we 
fixed  any  animal  on  the  top  of  a  high  post,  they  either 
dug  up  the  earth  at  the  bottom,  and  thus  tumbled  the 
whole  down,  or  one  of  them  clambered  up,  and  with  in- 
credible artifice  and  dexterity,  threw  down  what  was  upon 
it. 

They  watched  all  our  motions,  and  accompanied  us 
whatever  we  were  about  to  do.  If  the  sea  threw  up  an 
animal  of  any  kind,  they  devoured  it,  before  we  could 
arrive  to  rescue  it  from  them  :  and  if  they  could  not  con- 
sume the  whole  at  once,  they  dragged  it  in  portions  to 
the  mountains,  where  they  buried  it  under  stones  before 
our  eyes,  running  backward  and  forward  as  long  as  any 
remained  to  be  convoyed  away.  Others,  in  the 

rceau 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    ARCTIC    FOXES.  299 

mean  time,  stood  on  guard  and  watched  us.  If  they 
saw  any  one  coming  at  a  distance,  the  whole  troop  would 
join,  and  begin  digging  altogether  in  the  sand,  till  a 
beaver  or  a  sea-bear  would  be  so  completely  buried  under 
the  surface,  that  not  a  trace  of  it  could  be  seen.  In  the 
night  time  when  we  were  asleep,  they  came  and  pulled 
off  our  night-caps,  and  stole  our  gloves  from  under  our 
heads  with  the  beaver-coverings,  and  the  skins  that  we 
lay  upon.  In  consequence  of  this,  we  always  slept  with 
sticks  by  our  sides,  that  if  they  awoke  us,  we  might 
drive  them  away,  or  knock  them  on  the  head. 

When  we  made  a  halt  to  rest  by  the  way,  they 
gathered  round  us,  and  played  a  thousand  tricks  in  our 
sight,  and  when  we  sat  still,  they  approached  so  near  a3 
to  gnaw  the  thongs  of  our  shoes.  If  we  lay  down,  as 
if  intending  to  sleep,  they  came  and  smelt  at  our  noses, 
to  discover  whether  we  were  dead  or  alive;  if  we  held 
our  breath,  they  gave  us  such  a  tug  by  the  nose,  as  if 
they  would  have  bitten  it  off.  On  our  first  arrival,  they 
actually  devoured  the  noses,  the  fingers,  and  the  toes  of 
the  dead,  while  we  were  preparing  the  grave,  and 
thronged  in  such  a  manner  about  the  sick  and  infirm,  that 
it  was  with  difficulty  we  could  keep  them  off. 

Every  morning  we  saw  these  audacious  animals  pa- 
troling  about  among  the  sea-lions  and  sea-bears  lying  on 
the  strand,  smelling  at  such  as  were  asleep,  to  discover 
whether  some  one  of  them  might  not  be  dead  ;  if  that 
happened  to  be  the  case,  they  proceeded  to  dissect  him 
immediately,  and  soon  afterwards  all  fell  to  work  to  drag 
the  parts  away.  As  the  sea-lions  sometimes  in  their 
sleep  overlay  their  young,  the  foxes,  as  if  conscious  of 
this  circumstance,  every  morning  examined  the  whole 
herd  one  by  one,  and  immediately  dragged  away  the 
dead  cubs  from  their  dams. 

Q  Q  2  A 


300  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    ARCTIC    FOXES. 

As  they  would  not  suffer  us  to  be  at  rest  either  by  night ' 
or  day,  we  became  so  exasperated  at  them,  that  we 
killed  them  young  and  old,  and  destroyed  them  by  every 
means  we  could  devise.  When  we  awoke  in  the  morn- 
ing, there  always  lay  two  or  three  that  had  been  knocked 
on  the  head  during  the  night;  and  I  can  safely  affirm, 
that  during  my  stay  upon  the  island,  I  killed  above  two 
hundred  of  these  animals  with  my  own  hands.  On  the 
third  day  after  my  arrival,  I  knocked  down  with  a  club, 
within  the  space  of  three  hours,  upwards  of  seventy  of 
them,  and  made  a  covering  to  my  hut  with  their  skins. 
They  were  so  ravenous  that  with  one  hand  we  could  hold 
to  them  a  piece  of  flesh,  and  with  a  stick  or  an  axe  in 
the  other,  could  knock  them  on  the  head. 

They  have  nine  or  ten  cubs  at  a  litter,  which  they 
drop  in  holes  and  clefts  of  the  rocks.  They  are  so  fond 
of  their  young,  that  to  drive  us  from  them,  they  barked 
and  yelled  like  dogs,  by  which  they  betrayed  their  re- 
treat:  but  no  sooner  do  they  perceive  that  it  is  disco- 
vered, than,  unless  they  be  prevented,  they  drag  away 
the  young  in  their  mouths,  and  endeavour  to  conceal 
them  in  some  more  secret  place.  If  any  one  kills  the 
young,  the  dam  will  follow  him,  with  dreadful  howlings, 
both  night  and  day,  for  eighty  or  a  hundred  miles,  and 
will  not  desist  till  she  has  done  her  enemy  some  material 
injury,  or  is  herself  killed  by  him. 

In  storms  and  heavy  falls  of  snow,  they  bury  them- 
selves in  the  snow,  where  they  lie  as  long  as  it  lasts. 
They  swim  across  rivers  with  great  dexterity.  Besides 
what  is  cast  up  by  the  sea,  or  destroyed  by  other  beasts, 
they  seize  the  sea-fowl  by  night  on  the  clefts  where  they 
have  settle;!  to  sleep  ;  but  they,  on  the  contrary,  are  them- 
selves frequently  victims  to  the  birds  of  prey. 

From  all  the   circumstances  that  occurred  during  our 

stay, 


WONDERFUL    HISTORY    OF    A    SWEDISH    WOMAN.       301 

stay,  it  was  evident  that  these  animals  could  never  before 
have  been  acquainted  with  mankind,  and  that  the  dread 
of  man  is  not  innate  in  brutes,  but  must  be  grounded  on 
long  experience. 


Wonderful  History  of  a  young  Swedish   Woman  and  her 
extraordinary  Visions. 

JL  HE  following  account  of  a  young  Swedish  female,  who 
lived  six  years  without  food,  and  had  of  God  during  that 
time,  strange  and  secret  communications  at  Noraby,  near 
Malmo  in  Schonen,  was  transmitted  by  the  minister  of 
that  parish  to  the  bishop  of  Skara  in  West  Gothland, 
and  laid  before  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  at  Lunden,  and 
was  fully  confirmed  by  his  excellency  Field  Marshal  Stein- 
bock,  by  whom  she  was  frequently  visited.  It  was  origi- 
nally written  in  Swedish,  and  printed  at  Skara  ;  the  whole 
being  attested  by  the  Bishop  of  that  place,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Right  Reverend  Father  in  God,  John  Lord  Bishop  of 
Bristol. 

The  second  Sunday  after  Epiphany,  in  the  year  1705, 
Estred,  daughter  of  Esther  Jon,  was  overwhelmed  with 
grief,  and  shed  a  flood  of  tears  at  church,  when  she  heard 
a  minister  (M.  J.  Johanneus)  discourse  about  the  cross  and 
sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  next  day  she  went  with 
her  master,  who  carried  corn  to  the  market.  Being  upon 
the  road,  she  felt  a  pain  in  all  her  limbs,  and  sweated 
though  the  weather  was  extremely  cold,  and  with  great 
difficulty  reached  home.  Her  illness  increased  more  and 
more,  by  a  daily  running  of  blood,  through  the  mouth 
and  nose.  She  took  nothing  but  a  little  milk  and  whey 
for  about  the  space  of  a  year,  and  since  that  time  she  ate 
nothing  at  all.  In  the  same  year  1705,  about  Easter,  her 
parents  having  resolved  to  go  to  a  conjurer  without  her 
knowledge,  the  figure  of  a  child  about  four  years  old 
appeared  by  her  bedside,  bidding  her  not  to  comply  with 

the 


302         WONDERFUL    H1STOUY    OF  A    SWEDISH    WOMAN. 

the  desire  of  her  parents,  and  assuring  her  that  God  would 
be  her  physician  and  comforter. 

This  apparition,  which  lasted  two  hours,  was  attended 
with  another  the  same  day.  She  saw  in  the  evening  a 
brightness,  like  a  beautiful  morning  star.  She  has  seen 
it  ever  since :  it  shines  in  her  chamber  every  day,  from, 
sun  setting  to  sun  rising.  When  she  is  very  much  cast 
down,  there  appears  in  that  brightness  a  kind  of  face, 
which  looking  upon  her,  gives  her  great  ease  and  comfort. 
The  brightness  fills  the  whole  room  with  light,  but  nobody 
else  perceives  it :  every  body  else  is  in  the  dark,  while  she 
sees  the  star.  To  prove  the  truth  of  it,  those  that  are  in 
the  room  take  a  piece  of  money  in  one  hand,  and  another 
in  the  other  ;  which  she  plainly  distinguishes,  tells  ex- 
actly what  it  is  and  never  misses.  At  first  she  saw  the 
star  in  the  ceiling  of  the  room,  but  it  has  since  comedown 
lower  and  lower,  and  appears  now  on  her  bed. 

About  Midsummer,  in  the  same  year  1705,  she  began  to 
swoon  away  or  fall  into  extasies,  which  happens  eight  or 
ten  times  in  an  hour  :  each  extasy  lasts  almost  two  mi- 
nutes and  a  half  at  a  time.  When  she  awakes,  she  fetches 
a  deep  sigh,  and  with  folded  hands,  thanks  her  Saviour 
who  has  saved  and  delivered  her,  and  then  she  repeats 
some  passages  out  of  the  word  of  God.  She  often  prays 
for  the  King. 

She  says  that  whenever  she  falls  into  a  swoon,  she  is 
carried  into  a  beautiful  white  church,  where  every  thing 
"  shines  bright  and  glorious  ;  and  there  is  an  inexpressible 
joy,  sweetly  singing  and  playing  upon  music  to  the  praise 
and  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  She  adds  that  many 
persons  appear  in  that  church  dressed  in  white,  and  that 
their  number  continually  increases.  She  knows  them,  but 
is  not  allowed  to  name  them,  and  that  whenever  she  has 
a  mind  to  do  it,  her  words  are  immediately  snatched  out 
of  her  mouth. 

Estrid 


WONDERFUL    HISTORY    OF    A    SWEDISH    WOMAN.          303 

Estrid  is  a  maid  of  delicate  countenance,  brownish,  her 
body  white  and  beautiful,  can  move  her  arms  which  way 
she  pleases,  has  no  use  of  the  rest  of  her  limbs.  Her  sto- 
mach lies  close  to  her  back,  since  she  uses  no  food.  She 
has  no  strength  in  her  back,  but  must  be  kept  upright  with 
a  string,  upon  which  she  hangs  with  her  breast.  If  the 
same  string  happen  to  be  let  go  at  any  time,  she  falls  di- 
rectly on  her  face,  which  gives  her  sometimes  a  little  ease. 
If  she  again  is  set  upright,  her  back-bone  cracks,  which 
also  happens  sometimes,  when  she  hangs  upright :  her 
legs  and  thighs  are  contracted  underneath  her.  She  feels 
no  change  of  cold  or  heat,  let  it  be  ever  so  great  or  vehe- 
ment. 

She  was  25  years  of  age  in  September,  1707,  when  the 
minister  of  her  parish  delivered  the  certificate  above- 
mentioned.  He  says,  that  though  for  the  space  of  three 
years  and  a  half  she  has  not  used  so  much  meat  or  drink 
as  would  be  a  meal  for  a  child,  her  body  and  limbs  never- 
theless feel  as  well  and  as  firm  as  if  she  had,  and  that  she 
could  eat  very  heartily.  Her  nails  upon  her  fingers  and 
toes  do  not  grow  at  all,  but  are  as  soft  as  those  of  a  new- 
born child.  There  is  not  a  day  passes  but  she  swoons 
away  two  hundred  times,  as  if  she  were  dead,  and  again 
recovers. 

These  are  the  most  remarkable  circumstances  contained 
in  the  certificate,  in  the  account  printed  at  Skara,  1710, 
in  the  Swedish  language,  and  written  by  M.  Peter  Gud- 
hemius,  minister,  and  in  the  abstract  of  a  letter  of  the 
Bishop  of  Skara,  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Bristol,  dated  the 
9th  of  November,  1710.  The  Swedish  bishop  says  in  his 
letter  :  By  the  enclosed  printed  account,  your  Lordship 
will  learn  a  surprising  thing,  whereof  the  truth  is  as  cer- 
tain as  that  I  am  now  writing  this  letter.  I  have  written 
about  it  to  his  Excellency  the  Field-Marshal  Count 
Magnus  ^teinbock,  who  confirms  it,  having  often  visited 


404          ACCOUNT    OF    A    SNAKE    WHICH    SUCKS    COWS. 

the  maid  himself.  .  .  .  It  is  very  certain  that  she  sees  the 
star . .  .  .  As  often  as  she  comes  to  herself  after  she  has 
been  in  the  white  church,  she  repeats  some  passages  out 
of  the  Bible,  but  not  the  same  every  time,  although  she 
cannot  read,  nor  ever  knew  those  passages  before.  I 
thought  this  account  would  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  cu- 
rious in  England,  and  could  wish  to  know  their  judgment 
upon  it.  The  girl  is  still  (Dec.  9th,  1710),  in  the  same 
condition  :  and  if  I  can  do  your  Lordship  any  pleasure  in 
it,  I  will  acquaint  you  with  what  I  hear  further  concern- 
ing her. 


Singular    Account    of  a    Species    of  Snake   which   sucks 

Cows. 

-L\.  SPECIES  of  snake,  called  in  Italy  serpe  nero,  the  co- 
rben}  natrlx  of  Linnaeus,  is  said  to  be  extremely  fond  of 
milk,  and  the  country  people  pretend  that  it  makes  its 
way  into  the  dairies  to  gratify  that  inclination.  They 
even  assert  that  it  is  sometimes  found  entwined  round 
the  legs  of  cows,  sucking  their  teats  with  such  avidity  as 
to  draw  blood  when  their  milk  is  exhausted.  Of  this 
fact,  which  by  many  had  been  considered  as  a  popular 
tale,  Dr.  Gabriel  Anselmi,  professor  of  anatomy  at 
Turin,  had,  in  the  month  of  August,  1802,  an  opportu- 
nity of  being  an  eye-witness.  Walking  (says  he)  one 
morning  according  to  custom,  on  the  road  called  the 
Park,  bordered  by  pastures  containing  a  great  number  of 
sheep  and  horned  cattle,  I  observed  an  old  but  vigorous 
cow,  separate  from  the  others,  and  lowing  with  her  head 
raised  in  the  air,  her  ears  erect,  and  shaking  her  tail. 
Surprised  at  the  noise  she  made,  I  seated  myself  on  the 
bank  of  a  stream,  and  with  my  eyes  pursued  her 
wherever  she  went.  After  running  for  some  minutes,  she 
stopped  in  a  sequestered  spot,  and  began  to  ruminate. 

Inquisitive 


)  K  err  HER  ,Joiiw  ArriD  J 


THE    POLITE    GROCERS.  dUo 

Inquisitive  to  discover  the  cause  of  her  uneasiness,  I  went 
to  the  place.  After  going  into  a  pond  to  drink,  she 
came  out,  and  waited  on  the  brink  for  a  black  snake, 
which  crept  from  among  the  bushes,  and  approaching 
her,  entwined  himself  round  her  legs,  and  began  to  suck 
her  milk.  I  observed  this  phenomenon  two  successive 
days  without  informing  the  herdsman.  The  third  day  1 
acquainted  him  with  it,  and  he  told  me  that  for  some 
time  the  cow  had  kicked  at  the  approach  of  her  calf' 
and  that  she  could  not  without  difficulty  be  compelled 
to  suffer  it  to  suck.  We  took  away  the  snake,  which  we 
killed.  On  the  succeeding  days,  the  cow,  after  in  vain 
waiting  for  her  suckling,  ran  about  the  meadow  in  such 
a  manner,  that  the  herdsman  was  obliged  to  shut  her  up. 
Dr.  Ansel  mi  has  since  ascertained,  by  repeated  experi- 
ments, that  if  the  teats  of  the  cows  be  washed  with  a  de- 
coction of  tobacco,  the  ravages  of  these  extraordinary 
depredators  may  be  effectually  prevented. 


Particulars   concerning  the  "  Polite  Grocers,"  of  th< 
Strand. 

T 

A  HERE  are  few  of  our  readers  who  are  not  in  some  de- 
gree acquainted  with  the  character  and  singularities  of 
Mr.  Bentley,  whose  Dirty  Warehouse,  in  Leadenhall 
Street,  not  long  since  attracted  the  eye  of  every  passenger. 
The  annexed  engraving  represents  two  characters,  whose 
eccentric  humour,  though  less  conspicuous  in  its  conse- 
quences than  that  of  Mr.  Bentley,  on  account  of  the 
different  channel  into  which  it  has  been  directed,  is  how- 
ever not  less  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  curious. 

Messrs.  Aaron  and  John  Trim,  (of  whom  accurate  like- 
nesses are  given  in  the  plate)  are  grocers,  residing  at  No. 
Eccentric,   No.    VII,  R  R  449, 


306  THE    POLITE    GROCERS, 

449,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Strand,  nearly  opposite 
Villiers  Street.  They  were  born  in  the  house  in  which 
they  have  lived  ever  since,  and  where  their  father,  who 
had  carried  on  the  business  before  them,  died  some  years 
ago,  leaving  considerable  property.  Though  there  are 
many  shops  of  the  same  description  in  that  neighbour- 
hood, yet  we  are  well  informed,  that  none  of  them  is  so 
much  frequented  as  that  of  Messrs.  A.  and  J.  Trim, 
which  is  thronged  with  customers  from  morning  till 
night.  This  circumstance  will  not  be  wondered  at,  when 
it  is  known  that  these  gentlemen  on  all  occasions  display 
so  much  attention,  good-humour,  and  urbanity,  as  to 
have  acquired  the  characteristic  appellation  of  the  Polite 
Grocers.  These  qualities  alone  might,  perhaps,  have 
been  sufficient  to  secure  them  an  extensive  custom,  were 
not  a  still  more  substantial  advantage  obtained  by  dealing 
at  their  shop;  we  allude  to  the  excellent  quality  of  all 
their  articles,  and  the  very  reasonable  price  with  which 
they  are  always  satisfied. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  curiosity,  ever  in  quest  of 
food  for  its  insatiable  appetite,  may  likewise  have  contri- 
buted to  crowd  the  shop,  and  to  augment  the  celebrity  of 
the  "  Polite  Grocers."  There,  indeed,  it  would  not  be 
entirely  disappointed  of  the  expected  gratification.  In- 
dependent of  the  singular  personal  appearance  of  the 
gentlemen  behind  the  counter,  one  of  whom  is  so  short 
as  to  be  frequently  under  the  necessity  of  mounting  the 
steps  to  serve  his  customers,  the  shop  itself  exhibits  no 
common  spectacle.  The  counter  is  strewed  from  one  end 
to  the  other  with  above  a  dozen  pair  of  scales,  inter- 
mingled with  large  lumps  of  sugar  and  other  articles. 
The  floor  is  almost  entirely  covered  with  goods,  piled 
upon  each  other,  which  leave  a  passage  so  narrow  as  to 
admit  only  one  person  at  a  time.  This  is  no  ostentations 
display  of  fictitious  waro^  like  thcee  of  Dicky  Dart*  (of 

whom 


THE    POLITE    GROCERS.  307 

whom  some  particulars  are  subjoined,)  but  proves  the  ex- 
tensive business  of  Messrs.  Trim,  which  obliges  them  to 
keep  so  large  a  stock. 

With  regard  to  the  character  of  these  gentlemen,  it 
is  impossible  to  enlarge  much.  Though  extremely 
talkative  on  any  other  subject,  yet  on  every  point  rela- 
tive to  themselves  and  their  private  concerns,  they  main- 
tain the  most  impenetrable  closeness  and  reserve.  That 
their  dispositions  lead  them  to  the  practice  of  ceconomy, 
cannot  be  doubted  ;  but  in  this  dissipated  age,  that  ought 
to  be  considered  as  no  mean  virtue.  Their  whole  busi- 
ness is  transacted  by  themselves,  with  the  occasional  as- 
sistance of  a  young  woman,  who  principally  manages 
the  two-penny  post;  and  from  the  frugality  of  their 
habits,  and  the  smallness  of  their  expences,  it  is  univer- 
sally imagined,  that  they  must  have  accumulated  a  very 
considerable  sum.  Another  still  more  commendable 
trait  in  the  character  of  the  "  Polite  Grocers,"  is  their 
constant  attendance  at  St.  Martin's,  for  the  performance 
of  those  religious  duties  which  are  too  much  neglected 
by  such  a  large  portion  of  the  community.  Be  their 
private  character,  however,  what  it  m.iy,  we  are  fully 
justified  in  asserting,  that,  as  tradesmen,  their  strict  inte- 
grity, punctuality,  and  attention,  deserve  to  be  held  forth 
for  general  imitation  and  respect. 

Mr.  Richard  Dart,  (to  whom  we  have  alluded  above) 
more  generally  known  by  the  name  of  Dicky  Dart,  tJt,e 
wooden  grocer,  resided  in  St.  James's  Street,  Portsea. 
He  derived  his  additional  title  from  his  having  appa- 
rently a  very  large  stock  of  sugar,  which,  however,  con- 
sisted only  of  blocks  of  wood,  covered  with  paper,  and 
corded.  His  habits  were  those  of  the  utmost  penury 
and  sullen  seclusion  from  all  social  intercourse.  Though 
possessed  of  property  amounting  to  30001.  in  deeds, 
money,  stock,  &c.  yet  he  was  so  miserably  avaricious,  as  to 

R   R  2  deny 


308  THE    POLITE    GROCERS. 

deny  himself  the  proper  sustenance  which  nature  re- 
quires, and  the  cleanliness  which  health  and  decency 
indispensably  demand.  His  bedding  was  rotted  with 
•filth,  vermin  and  negligence.  He  had  only  two  shirts, 
and  those  were  in  the  most  tattered  condition,  and  there 
were  no  signs  of  any  other  linen  about  himself  or  his 
dwelling.  His  dress  was  remarkable,  for  he  wore  in  all 
weathers  five  or  six  waistcoats,  a  close  coat,  and  an  old 
thread-bare  spencer.  With  all  this  shabbiness  of  attire, 
he  had,  however,  some  pretensions  to  beauism,  for  he 
constantly  wore  hair-powder,  or  rather  flour,  which  he 
put  on  with  a  sheep's  tail  instead  of  a  puff.  He  was  sel- 
dom seen  to  eat,  and  his  food  was  never  known  to  be 
any  kind  of  meat,  or  scarcely  any  thing  but  dry  crusts^ 
biscuits,  raw  turnips,  radishes,  and  such  articles  as  re- 
quired little  or  no  cooking.  Though  he  would  not  suffer 
any  female  to  come  near  his  house,  he  had  a  warm  at- 
tachment for  the  sex,  and  to  indulge  himself  in  this  pro- 
pensity, he  for  several  years  spent  the  greatest  part  of 
the  night  in  walking  about  the  street,  in  search  of  female 
companions. 

This  strange  system  of  living  adopted  by  Mr.  Dart,  is 
by  many  ascribed  to  his  having,  in  early  life,  been  dis- 
uppointed  in  his  honourable  overtures.  From  that  time 
lie  lost  all  his  accustomed  spirit,  became  sullen,  retired, 
and  selfish,  and  abandoned  himself  to  the  lowest  state  of 
degraded  humanity. 

The  fate  of  this  singular  man  was  as  melancholy  as  his 
life  had  been  extraordinary.  On  the  morning  of  April  21, 
1800,  he  was  found  murdered  behind  the  counter  of  his 
bhop,  in  which  he  used  to  sleep.  The  perpetrator  of  the 
deed  has,  we  believe,  never  been  discovered;  but  it  is  sup- 
posed that  he  was  followed  home  the  preceding  night  by 
some  person  or  persons,  too  well  acquainted  with  his  se- 
cluded situation,  and  considerable  property, 

Description 


[    309    ] 

.Description  of  the  Stupendous    Wall  which  separates    the 
Chinese  Territories  from  Tartary. 

V_yNE  of  the  greatest  artificial  curiosities  that  China 
affords,  and  which  may,  indeed,  he  reckoned  one  of  the 
most  astonishing  remains  of  antiquity  in  the  world,  is 
the  prodigious  wall  which  was  huilt  by  the  Chinese,  to 
prevent  the  frequent  incursions  of  the  Tartars.  This 
wall  is  in  general  about  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  broad 
enough  for  six  horsemen  to  ride  abreast  on  it,  and 
throughout  the  whole  length  it  is  fortified  at  intervals 

O  O 

with  strong  square  towers,  to  the  number  of  three  thou- 
sand, which  before  the  Tartars  subdued  the  country, 
used  to  be  guarded  by  a  million  of  soldiers.  Its  whole 

C  " 

length,  with  all  its  windings,  is  computed  at  1500  miles, 
running  along  the  three  northern  provinces  of  the  empire, 
over  mountains,  valleys,  and  rivers,  heights  that  appear 
inaccessible,  and  marshes  and  sandy  hollows,  which  seem 
incapable  of  admitting  a  foundation  for  such  a  weighty 
structure.  It  is  chietly  built  of  bricks,  and  so  strongly 
cemented  with  a  peculiar  kind  of  mortar,  that  though 
it  has  stood  above  two  thousand  years,  it  is  very  little 
decayed,  and  the  terrace  on  the  top  still  seems  as  hard  as 
ever. 

It  is  not  known  with  accuracy,  when  this  amazing  barrier 
was  first  erected,  but  the  time  of  its  completion  was 
about  three  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ;  the 
Chinese  tradition  asserts  that  it  was  begun  and  finished 
in  the  space  of  five  years.  Le  Comte  observes,  that  it 
was  one  of  the  greatest  and  maddest  enterprises  ever  un- 
dertaken by  man  ;  for  though  it  was  certainly  prudent  to 
guard  the  avenues,  nothing  could  be  more  ridiculous 
than  to  carry  a  wall  over  the  tops  of  precipices  which  it 
was  impossible  tbe  Tartar  cavalry  should  ever  ascend. 
"  For  my  part,"  lie  continues,  "  I  am  astonished  how  th« 

materials 


310  DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    CHINESE    WALL. 

materials  were  conveyed  thither  ;  this  was  not  done 
without  a  vast  expence,  and  the  loss  of  more  men  than 
could  have  perished  by  the  utmost  fury  of  their  enemies." 

During  sixteen  centuries,  this  wall  proved  sufficient  to 
keep  out  the  Tartars,  till  Jenghis  Khan  overcame  every 
obstacle,  and  made  himself  master  of  China.  In  less  than 
a  century,  the  invaders  were  driven  out,  and  the  Chinese 
remained  unmolested  till  about  the  middle  of  the  17th 
century,  when,  in  consequence  of  a  civil  war,  the  Tartar 
princes  were  invited  back,  and  have  maintained  them- 
selves on  the  throne  of  China  ever  since.  From  that 
period  the  importance  of  the  wall  has  been  greatly  dimi- 
nished, and  the  Chinese  themselves  now  view  it  with  in- 
difference. 

The  work  had,  however,  other  uses  besides  the  de- 
fence which  it  afforded  in  war.  In  time  of  peace  it  pre- 
vented too  free  an  intercourse  between  the  Chinese  and 
Tartars;  it  kept  out  the  wild  beasts  that  abound  in  the 
country  of  the  latter,  and  it  was  a  boundary  line  between 
the  two  nations,  besides  preventing  the  escape  of  criminals 
or  disaffected  persons. 

The  following  description  of  the  construction  of  this 
stupendous  fabric,  is  given  by  Captain  Parish,  one  of 
the  officers  who  accompanied  Lord  Macartney  on  his 
embassy  to  the  court  of  China. — The  body  of  the  wall  is 
an  elevation  of  earth,  kept  in  on  each  side  by  a  wall  of 
masonry,  and  terraced  by  a  brick  platform.  These  pa- 
rapets are  formed  by  walls  continued  above  the  platform. 
The  total  height  of  the  brickwork  is  25  feet  ;  the  basis 
of  it  is  of  stone,  projecting  about  two  feet  beyond  the 
brickwork,  the  height  of  which  is  irregular.  The  thick- 
ness of  each  retaining  wall  is  five  feet,  and  the  entire 

O  ' 

thickness  of  the  whole  work  is  twenty-five  feet.  In  many 
places  there  is  a  small  ditch  beyond  ihe  foundation. 

The   towers  are  about  one  hundred  yards  distant  from 

each 


DESCRIPTION    OF  THE    CHINESE    WALL.  31  1 

each   other,  and   they  are   of   very    different    dimensions 
and  constructions.     The  first  which  the  gentlemen  of  the 
embassy   examined,  consisted    of  one    story,    on    a   level 
with  the  terre  plcine  of  the  wall.     It  had  three  ports  be- 
low in  each  front,  and  two  in  each  front  of  the   parapet 
of  its  platform.      The  second  tower  was  of  a  different 
form,  dimensions  and   situation,    having  two  stories  be- 
sides its  platform.     It  was  a  square  stone  building,  nearly 
solid,  intersected  with  arched  passages,  in  the  figure  of  a 
cross,  at  each  end  of  which  was  a   window.     This  tower 
has  two   flanks  to   the  wall.     Between   the  entrance  and 
the  "centre  of  the  cross  is  a  stair-case,   leading  to  the  se- 
cond story,  which  contains,  in  fact,  but  one  square  room. 
Three  ports  face  the  wall  on  each   side  ;  the  centre  ports 
facing   the  wall  enfilade  the  terre  pleine  on  each  side  of 
the  tower,  and  the  rest  flank  the  sides  of  the  wall  in  every 
direction.     There  are  twelve  embrasures  in  the  parapet  of 
the  platform,  with  loop-holes  in  the  intervals.     Thus  each 
front  has  on  the  lower  story  one  port,  on  the  second  three, 
and  on    the    platform    three   embrasures,  and  five  loop- 
holes.    The  different  quoins,  as  well  as  the  stone  founda- 
tions of  the  towers  and  wall,  are  of  grey  granite. 

The  other  parts  consist  of  a  bluish  kind  of  bricks,  laid 
in  laminee,  each  of  the  thickness  of  a  brick,  thus  form- 
ing, in  a  manner,  as  many  walls  as  there  are  bricks  in 
thickness.  These  bricks  are  of  different  dimensions  ;  those 
in  the  terraces  are  perfectly  square.  Whenever  bricks  of 
the  ordinary  size  would  not  answer,  others  moulded  of  the 
exact  form  and  size  were  provided.  The  cement  is  more 
than  half  an  inch  thick,  and  has  but  a  small  proportion 
of  any  ingredient  to  change  the  perfect  whiteness  of  the 
calcined  limestone. 

The  colour  of  the  bricks  excites  a  doubt  whether  they 
ever   sustained  the   action  of  fire,  but  had  they   been  only 
baked  in  the  sun,   they  would  not  have  borne  to  be  ex- 
posed to  a  red  heat  without  shrinking,  as  several  experi- 
ments 


312  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CHINESE  WALL. 

ments  have  proved.  Some  of  the  kilns,  indeed,  yet  re- 
main in  which  they  were  probably  burned.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  wall  was  intended  for  a  defence  against 
artillery,  as  the  parapets  are  incapable  of  resisting  can- 
non-shot. Small  holrs  are,  however,  seen  beneath  the 
embrasures  of  the  towers,  as  if  for  the  reception  of  the 
swivels  of  wall-pieces  :  these  holes  appear  to  be  as  old  as 
the  wall  itself,  and  it  is  difficult  to  guess  for  what  other 
purpose  they  could  be  formed  than  for  fire-arms;  and  this 
circumstance  renders  it  extremely  probable,  that  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  Chinese  to  the  knowledge  of  gun-pow- 
der long  before  its  discovery  in  Europe,  may  be  well- 
founded. 

The  following  curious  calculations  are  given  in  a  work 
lately  published  by  Mr.  Barrow,  who  accompanied  Lord 
Macartney  to  China  in  quality  of  his  private  secretary  : — 

Admitting  the  length  of  the  Chinese  wall  to  be  1500 
miles,  and  the  dimensions  throughout  pretty  much  the 
same  as  where  it  was  crossed  by  the  British  embassy,  the 
materials  of  all  the  dwelling-houses  of  England  and  Scot- 

cj  c7 

land,  supposing  them  to  amount  to  1,800,000,  and  to 
average  on  the  whole  2000  cubic  feet  of  masonry  or 
brickwork,  are  barely  equivalent  to  the  bulk  or  solid 
contents  of  the  great  wall  of  China.  Nor  are  the  pro- 
jecting massy  towers  of  stone  and  brick  included  in  the 
calculation.  These  alone,  supposing  them  to  continue 
throughout  at  the  bow-shot  distance,  are  calculated  to 
contain  as  much  masonry  and  brickwork  as  all  London. 
To  give  another  idea  of  the  mass  of  matter  in  this  stupen- 
dous fabric,  it  may  be  observed  that  it  is  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  surround  the  circumference  of  the  earth  on  two 
of  its  great  circles,  with  two  walls,  each  six  feet  high,  and 
two  feet  thick.  It  is  to  be  understood,  however,  that  in 
this  calculation  is  included  the  earthy  part  in  the  middle 
of  the  wall. 

EXTRA- 


[     313     ] 

Extraordinary  Circumstances  that  happened  to  Mr.  Giles's 
Family  at  Bristol,  in  the  Year  1761. 

JL  HE  belief  in  witchcraft,  and  the  visible  agency  of  su- 
pernatural powers  has  long  been  exploded  by  every  well- 
informed  person,  though  its  influence  still  extends  over 
many  of  the  lower  order  of  society,  even  in  this  enlight- 
ened country.  The  diffusion  of  science,  and  the  detection 
of  imposture,  equally  contributed  to  produce  this  revolu- 
tion in  the  public  opinion ;  and  the  attempts  which  have 
since  been  made  to  impose  on  the  credulity  of  weak  minds, 
have  consigned  their  authors  to  merited  punishment  or 
contempt. 

In  a  former  number  we  detailed  the  progress  and  issue 
of  the  celebrated  operations  in  Cock  Lane ;  we  have  now 
to  submit  to  the  reader  the  account  of  an  affair,  the  par- 
ticulars of  which  are  infinitely  more  astonishing,  and  of 
which  no  satisfactory  explanation  has  ever  been  given, 
unless  we  can  prevail  upon  ourselves  to  attribute  the 
whole  to  supernatural  agency.  The  circumstances  de- 
tailed in  the  following  pages,  are  the  substance  of  a 
journal,  kept  by  Mr.  Durbin,  a  chymist  of  Bristol,  (uncle 
of  Sir  John  Durbin,  one  of  the  present  aldermen  of  that 
city)  of  facts,  of  which  he  was  himself  an  eye-witness. 
It  may  not  be  unnecessary  to  premise,  that  Mr.  Durbin 
was  a  man  possessing  an  inviolable  attachment  to  truth, 
and  unblemished  integrity.  He  died  in  1799,  leaving 
among  his  papers  the  manuscript  from  which  the  follow- 
ing narrative  is  extracted. 

One  morning  in  the  month  of  November,  1761,  the 
children  of  ?\Ir.  Giles,  who  kept  the  Lamb,  without 
Lawford's  Crate,  Bristol,  were  so  terrified  by  a  violent 
scratching  at  their  window  and  bed's  head,  that  they 
jumped  out  of  bed,  and  ran  down  stairs.  As  nothing  of 

Eccentric,  A^.  VII.  s  s  the 


314  EXTRAORDINARY    CIRCUMSTANCES 

the  kind  occurred  for  three  weeks  afterwards,  their  pa- 
rents conceived  that  it  might  have  been  the  pigeons 
making  a  noise  at  the  window.  The  scratching  was  then 
repeated,  and  continued  every  day,  accompanied  by 
knocking.  Two  of  the  children,  Molly  and  Dobby,  the 
former  thirteen,  and  the  latter  eight  years  old,  now  began 
to  be  tormented  by  some  invisible  agent,  which  pinched 
them  in  sucli  a  manner,  as  to  leave  behind  impressions  re- 
sembling those  of  nails,  and  the  clothes  were  pulled  off 
them  as  they  lay  in  bed.  The  chamber-pot,  boxes,  and 
other  articles  were  moved,  and  rolled  about  the  room 
without  any  apparent  cause;  the  children  were  disturbed 
when  at  work,  their  needles  were  pulled  out  of  their  hands, 
and  sometimes  even  thrown  under  the  grate. 

The  report  of  these  extraordinary  circumstances  having 
reached  Mr.  Durbin,  he  went  for  the  first  time  on  the 
18th  of  December,  with  a  view  of  detecting,  and  exposing 
what  he  deemed  to  be  an  imposture  ;  but  his  own  observa- 
tions soon  caused  him  to  change  his  opinion.  Soon  after 
his  first  visit  he  took  a  friend  with  him,  to  Mr.  Giles's, 
where  he  met  two  other  persons.  They  placed  Molly, 
who  was  most  troubled,  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  by 
day-light;  all  four  seated  themselves  round  her,  while  she 
began  her  work.  Her  knitting-needles  were  pulled  away 
thirteen  times,  and  they  were  all  satisfied  that  the  girl 
could  not  do  it  of  herself.  She  stopped  every  time  the 
needles  began  to  move,  and  the  company  saw  them  move 
quite  off  her  fingers. 

Besides  the  persecution  of  the  children,  the  family 
began  to  be  disturbed  in  various  ways.  The  tattoo  was 
regularly  beaten  every  morning,  and  with  as  much  preci- 
sion as  by  a  drummer.  A  large  table  was  twice  in  an  hour 
turned  upside  down,  in  the  presence  of  several  persons, 
and  the  carpet  upon  it  \vas  instantly  spread  out  smooth 
on  the  floor,  though  from  the  ?ize  of  the  table,  two  men 

could 


THAT    OCCURRED    IN    THK    FAMILY    OF    MR.    GILES.       315 

could  scarcely  turn  it  over.  The  chairs  left  their  places, 
the  fire-irons  were  lifted  up,  and  thrown  about  the  room, 
and  a  key  suspended  to  the  wall,  projected  itself  five  yards, 
and  struck  Mr.  Giles  on  the  head. 

The  inventive  spirit  of  mischief  now  practised  new  tricks 
with  the  children.  Whenever  Molly  attempted  to  drink 
tea  or  any  other  liquid,  it  was  thrown  over  her.  She  could 
carry  the  cup  steadily  to  her  mouth,  hut  the  moment  she 
put  her  lips  to  it,  her  elbow  received  a  violent  push :  if 
any  person  put  their  hand  to  her  elbow,  her  head  was 
then  pushed  into  the  cup  ;  and  if  they  touched  both  her 
head  and  elbow,  she  was  then  pinched  on  the  back  of 
her  neck  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  marks  were  left  be- 
hind. The  same  persecution  was  practised  if  she  sat 
down  to  write.  One  day  Dobby  was  standing  by  the  fire 
with  several  persons,  when  she  suddenly  disappeared.  She 
was  sought  by  the  family  above  an  hour,  when  her  father 
discovered  and  drew  her,  but  not  without  resistance, 
from  under  a  bed,  whither  the  child  said  she  had  been 
carried  by  something  that  held  her  there  all  the  time. 
Three  days  afterwards  she  was  again  carried  away,  and 
as;ain  found  after  an  interval  of  half  an  hour,  under  the 

O  ' 

bed.  The  first  time  she  had  seen  nothing,  but  at  the 
second,  she  told  Mr.  Durbin,  who  happened  at  that  mo- 
ment to  enter,  that  a  ragged  woman  put  her  hand  before 
her  mouth  to  prevent  her  crying  out,  and  carried  her  up 
stairs  without  her  feet  touching  the  floor,  as  she  supposed 
in  the  sight  of  the  people  :  that  the  woman  had  on  a 
brown  chip-hat,  a  ragged  cap,  a  brown  gown,  and  great 
holes  in  her  stockings  ;  that  she  threw  her  under  the^bed, 
lay  down  by  her,  and  pinched  her  neck,  telling  her  she 
would  torment  her  still  more,  and  crying  out  several 
times — "  A  witch  !  a  witch  !" 

The    children  now   began  to  be    much  scratched  and 
pinched  when  they  went  to  bed.     The  bed    being  beaten 

s  s  '2  to 


316  EXTRAORDINARY    CIRCUMSTANCES 

to  pacify  them,  a  squeaking  was  heard  several  times  like 
that  of  a  rat  caught  by  a  cat.  Their  arms  were  likewise 
bitten  above  twenty  times  in  one  evening,  the  impression 
of  eighteen  or  twenty  teeth  being  left  on  them,  and 
spittle  smoking,  as  if  just  spit  out  of  the  mouth.  Their 
back  and  shoulders  were  bitten  while  they  lay  upon 
them,  which  was  a  sufficient  proof  that  they  could  not 
do  it  themselves.  On  their  arms  and  hands  being  covered 
with  a  petticoat  to  defend  them,  if  possible,  they  were 
bitten  worse  than  before,  under  the  very  hands  of  those 
who  applied  that  security.  On  one  occasion,  as  soon  as 
they  were  in  bed,  the  tormentor  had  begun  its  usual  opera- 
tions, but  a  clergyman  went  to  prayers,  on  which  it  was 
quiet,  and  remained  so  all  night. 

The  children  were  now  removed  to  Great  Gardens, 
another  part  of  the  town,  to  which  they  were  followed 
by  this  invisible  agent,  which  tormented  them  with 
greater  violence  than  ever.  It  tore  their  caps  and  clothes, 
while  at  the  same  time  pins  were  thrust  into  various  parts 
of  their  bodies,  so  crooked,  that  it  was  with  difficulty 
they  could  be  extracted.  At  length  the  grandmother  of 
the  children,  said,  "  Art  thou  a  witch  ?  If  so,  give 
scratches" — which  was  immediately  done.  Other  ques- 
tions were  now  proposed,  and  answered  in  the  same  way. 
From  these  interrogatories,  it  was  collected,  that  all  the 
disturbances  in  Mr.  Giles's  house  had  been  occasioned  by 
a  witch  who  lived  at  Mangotsfield,  and  had  received  from 
a  person  in  the  neighbourhood  ten  guineas  to  afflict  this 
unfortunate  family. 

As  the  girls  declared  they  frequently  saw  the  hand 
which  hurt  them,  a  pen-knife  was  once  given  to  the 
eldest,  to  cut  whatever  she  might  see,  but  she  had  no 
sooner  laid  hold  of  it,  than  she  said  something  was 
pulling  the  top  of  the  knife,  which  in  fact  shook  in  a 
manner  exactly  corresponding  with  such  an  action.  The 

witch 


THAT    OCCURRED    IN    THE    FAMILY    OF    MR.    GILE*.       317 

witch  now  employed  the  same  weapons;  and  the  chil- 
dren both  received  cuts  from  a  knife  on  the  head,  face 
and  arms,  till  the  blood  came.  The  first  time  this  hap- 
pened, Mr.  Dnrbin  was  present;  after  the  children  were 
gone  to  bed,  he  moved  a  knife  backward  and  forward 
over  the  bed,  and  while  he  continued  to  do  so,  they  were 
not  hurt.  He  then  cut  with  it  behind  their  backs,  some- 
thing shrieked,  and  Molly  declared  she  saw  a  hand  and 
arm  with  a  case-knife  move  away  to  another  bed.  Mr. 
Durbin  went  to  the  spot,  and  cut  with  great  force;  a 
shriek  was  heard,  and  the  child  said  he  had  cut  the  arm' 
which  had  fallen  to  the  ground. 

It  would  lead  us  into  too  great  lengths  to  enumerate  all 
the  methods  that  were  employed  to  detect  the  impos- 
ture, if  any  existed,  all  of  which,  however,  only  left  the 
spectators  more  strongly  convinced  than  before,  that 
no  delusion  was  practised.  Questions  were  put  both 
in  Greek  and  Latin,  which  were  answered,  in  a  mari- 
ner previously  fixed,  with  the  utmost  accuracy.  But 
what  is  more  extraordinary  than  ail  the  rest,  is,  that 
questions  asked  only  in  thought  received  immediate  an- 
swers, as  Mr.  Durbin  proved  by  repeated  experiments  at 
different  times.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  the  spirit 
acknowledged,  that  it  tormented  a  young  lady  of  Bris- 
tol, whose  situation  was  thought  so  desperate  by  the  doc- 
tor who  attended  her,  that  he  would  take  no  fees.  She 
used  to  bark  four  or.  five  times,  and  then  crow  like  a 
young  cock.  Mr.  Durbin  himself  had  seen  her  tongue 
pulled  to  a  great  length  out  of  her  mouth,  and  doubled 
down  her  throat;  after  which  she  would  roll  in  great 
agony  on  the  ground,  and  then  go  about  the  house  as 
usual,  or  sit  down  to  work,  barking  and  crowing  all  the 
time.  She  however  recovered,  and  continued  well  after- 
wards. 

But    to  return    to    the  family   of    Mr.    Giles. — Finding 

that 


318          EXTRAORDINARY  CIRCUMSTANCES 

that  the  removal  of  the  children  to  Great  Gardens  was  not 
likely  to  procure  them  any!  peace  from  the  persecutions  of 
their  inveterate  enemy,  he  took  them  back  again  to 
Lawford's  Gate,  where  they  were  renewed  with  increased 
violence.  Both  the  girls  were  cut  till  the  blood  came, 
and  though  petticoats  were  wrapt  over  their  arms,  it  was 
found  impossible  to  prevent  the  operations  of  the  invisi- 
ble power.  These  cuts  were  about  two  inches  and  a  half 
long,  about  the  thickness  of  a  shilling  in  depth,  and  the 
skin  was  not  jagged  but  smooth,  as  if  cut  with  a  penknife. 
Spirits  of  wine  being  applied  to  them  only  made  them 
worse,  and  they  were  found  to  heal  sooner  without  any 
application. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Giles  set  up  the  flying 
waggons,  for  the  carriage  of  goods  from  Bristol  to  Bath 
and  London.  In  the  first  week,  the  waggon  being  on 
its  way  from  Bristol  to  Bath,  at  Kelson  Hill,  about  four 
miles  from  the  latter,  the  horses  were  seized  with  a 
trembling,  and  the  chains  broke  off  as  they  stood  still. 
Five  of  the  horses  that  were  thus  set  at  liberty  gallopped 
furiously  away,  and  proceeded  to  the  stables  at  Bath  :  it 
was  sixteen  hours  before  the  waggon  arrived  there, 
though  it  ought  to  reach  London  in  three  days.  The 
next  week  when  the  waggon  set  off,  Mr.  Giles  sent  two 
men  with  it,  that  they  might  serve  as  a  check  on  each 
other,  if  any  tricks  were  played  to  perplex  him.  No 
sooner  had  it  arrived  at  the  spot  where  the  former  acci- 
dent occurred,  than  the  chain  suddenly  broke,  and  was 
instantly  tied  up  in  several  knots,  and  the  whole  formed 
as  complete  a  bow-knot  as  could  be  made  with  a  piece  of 
twine.  The  men  after  trying  along  time  in  vain  to  beat 
out  the  knots,  at  length  broke  the  links  of  the  chain, 
and  the  passengers  were  obliged  to  walk  to  Bath.  The 
week  afterwards  the  same  place  was  not  passed  without 
some  molestation. 

This 


THAT    OCCURRED    IN    THE    FAMILY    OP    MR.    GILES.       319 

This  mischievous  fiend  was  now  seized  with  the  fancy 
of  taking-  all  the  pins  out  of  the  clothes  of  the  eldest 
girl,  and  running  them  into  various  parts  of  her  body. 
Pins  were  marked  and  put  in  her  pin-cushion,  she  was 
closely  watched,  and  in  less  than  a  minute,  the  identical 
pins  were  found  crooked  in  the  most  extraordinary  man- 
ner, and  stuck  into  her  neck.  The  pin-cushion  was 
examined,  and  the  pins  were  gone. 

At  length  it  began  to  address  itself  audibly  to  the  chil- 
dren. It  directed  them  to  follow  its  advice,  to  move  to 
several  places  out  of  Bristol,  and  not  to  stay  too  long  in 
a  place,  otherwise  they  would  not  live;  adding,  that  if 
their  father  pleased  it,  he  should  be  made  acquainted 
with  some  secrets  of  importance.  These  communica- 
tions were  made  in  the  ear  of  the  eldest  child,  so  that 
none  of  the  persons  present  could  hear  them. 

On  the  19th  of  February,  Dobby  again  disappeared  as 
she  had  done  before  ;  and  after  being  sought  some  time, 
was  found  under  her  father's  bed.  According  to  her  ac- 
count, she  had  been  carried  away  by  the  same  woman  as 
before,  who,  she  now  said,  was  of  the  middle  size,  and 
had  a  sharp  nose.  The  night  after  this  occurrence,  a  new 
species  of  violence  was  practised.  The  children  were 
forcibly  dragrared  out  of  bed,  as  it  were  bv  the  neck,  in 

»  •/  ' 

the  presence  of  several  persons,  and  when  the  latter  en- 
deavoured to  hold  them  in  bed,  they  were  pulled  by  the 
legs  with  increased  fury.  Among  those  present,  was  a 
gentleman,  who  had  the  rank  of  major  in  the  army, 
and  who  held  Molly  with  all  his  nrighf,  placing  his  knee 
against  the  bedstead  ;  but  he  was  unable  to  hold  her,  and 
declared,  that  the  force  which  pulled  against  him  was 
equal  to  three  hundred  weight.  To  convince  himself,  he 
repeated  the  experiment  above  ten  times,  jind  as  often 
were  the  children  dragged  to  the  bed's  foot,  and  himself 
pulled  affer  them,  the  girl-  crying  bitterly  with  the  pain. 

The 


320  EXTRAORDINARY    CIRCUMSTANCE  t 

The  major  was  so  confounded,  that  he  could  not  help 
cursing  it,  which,  as  former  observations  had  proved, 
only  served  to  irritate  his  powerful  antagonist.  He  took 
a  candle  to  look  under  the  bed,  still  fearful  of  some 
trick,  and  while  in  this  act,  he  declared,  that  he  felt 
three  or  four  fingers  catch  hold  of  his  wrist,  and  pinch 
him  with  such  violence,  that  the  prints  were  very  visible, 
and  the  place  remained  sore  for  several  days.  About  two 
in  the  morning  it  became  so  outrageous,  that  the  major 
called  his  coachman  and  footman,  but  all  their  united 
efforts  could  not  keep  the  children  in  bed.  They  were 
then  dressed,  and  carried,  but  not  without  difficulty,  into 
the  kitchen  ;  but  here  the}-  were  still  more  exposed  to 
the  violence  of  their  inexorable  tormentor.  They  were 
pulled  with  such  violence  towards  the  cieling,  that  though 
above  a  dozen  persons  were  present,  they  were  all  tired 
with  holding  them,  as  four  stout  men  could  scarcely  keep 
one  child  from  being  pulled  away.  They  were  affected 
in  the  same  manner  at  the  house  of  a  neighbour,  to 
which  they  were  sent,  and  were  brought  so  low  by  the 
torments  they  had  to  endure,  that  it  was  feared  they 
would  sink  under  them. 

This  mischievous  spirit  was  not  however  without  its 
merry  mood.  If  any  one  whistled  a  tune,  it  answered 
by  whistling  the  same,  and  it  scratched  various  tunes 
very  correctly.  Mr.  Durbin  often  heard  a  loud  slapping 
of  hands  in  the  bed  when  those  of  the  children  were  out 
of  it ;  and  a  panting  like  that  of  a  bull-dog  under  the 
bed,  though  he  never  was  able  to  discover  any  thing 
there.  The  room  was  sometimes  filled  with  an  intolera- 
ble stench,  like  that  of  putrified  blood  and  filth  from  the 
shambles. 

Molly  was  now  removed  to   the  house  of    a  friend   at 
Kingsweston,  where  she   remained  quiet  near   six  weeks, 
and  when  she  returned  homo,  her  father  sent  her  to  Swan- 
sen, 


THAT  OCCURRED    TO    THE    FAMILY    OF    MR.    GILES.   321 

sea  in  the  company  of  a  gentleman  who  was  going  to  that 
place. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  Mr.  Giles  had  been  to  Bath  in 
his  one-horse  chair,  and  on  his  return,  some  part  of  the 
harness  broke  near  the  place  where  the  waggon  had  been 
detained.  He  got  out  to  mend  it,  and  when  he  had 
finished,  he  all  at  once  perceived  a  woman  in  a  cloak 
standing  by  the  wheel ;  she  said  nothing,  but  stood 
motionless.  Conceiving  that  she  might  perhaps  be  the 
author  of  all  the  disturbance  in  his  family,  his  courage 
failed  him  ;  and  he  mounted  his  chair  without  speaking, 
drove  on  a  little,  and  looked  back,  but  she  was  gone. 
On  his  arrival  at  home,  ho  found  himself  rather  indis- 
posed. 

The  next  day  Mr.    Durbin    went  to  see  a  person,  by 
trade  a  smith,  in   Gloucestershire,  who  informed  him  that 
for  two  months  he  had  been    disturbed  by    two  strange 
voices,  threatening  to  do  him  mischief.      The  preceding 
night  he  had  been  troubled  by  them,  and  among  other 
things  they  had  said,  they  should  not  have  much  more 
power  over  the    little    ones  at    the  Lanib  (Mr.    Giles's) 
but  they  should  get  power    over  the  old  one,  at  which 
they    seemed    particularly    pleased,    and    said  something 
else  concerning    Mr.   Giles,   which  he  could   not  under- 
stand.    He  added,  that  he  was  sorry  for  him,  though  he 
was  not  acquainted  with  the  family.      Mr.   Durbin  did 
not  mention  to  him  that  Mr.   Giles  was  ill.     On  his  re- 
turn to  Biistol,  ho  found  Mr.  Giles  worse,  and  advised 
him  to    send   for  a  physician.      All    assistance    however 
proved    in  vain,  and  he  expired  in   the    evening    of  the 
16th. 

For  nearly  two  months  after  herTather's  death,  Dobby, 

who  remained  at  home,  was  not  molested  ;  but   after  that 

period,  she  again  began  to  be  disturbed  by  pins,  bites, 

cuts,  &c.  as  usual.     This   continued   at   intervals   till  the 

Eccentric,  No.  VII.  T  T  middle 


322  EXTRAORDINARY    CIRCUMSTANCES,    &C. 

middle  of  September,  when  Molly  returned  from  Swan- 
sea, and   the  old  enemy  of  the  two  children    again  began 
to  persecute  them  as  bitterly  as  ever.     In  the  answer  given 
to  questions  asked  on  these  occasions,  it  acknowledged 
that  Mr.  Giles's  death  was  solely  the  effect  of  witchcraft, 
and  that  the  continuation   of  its  power  for  another  year- 
had  been  purchased  by  an  additional  sum  often  guineas. 
Its  persecutions  were  so  incessant,  that  Mrs.  Giles   was 
obliged  to  send   the   children  to  Kingswood.     A  new  rib- 
bon was  put  round   the  head   of  the  youngest,  which  was 
observed  by  several  persons  present  to  untie  apparently 
of  itself,   and   vanish.        Search  was  made  in    the  room, 
but  no  traces  of  it  could   be  discovered,  nor  was  it   till 
eleven   days  afterwards,   that  it  dropt  down  before  Mrs. 
Giles  and    several    other  persons,    who   were  sitting    to- 
gether.     Dobby  stepped  into  the  kitchen  to  the  maids, 
but  on  a  sudden  she  was  gone.       Search  was  made  for 
her,  and  it  was  nearly  an  hour  before   she  was  found  un- 
der a  bed   in  an   old  garret,  on  her  passage  to  which  a 
door  must  have  been    unbolted,    and  bolted  again  after 
her  ;  and    this  bolt  was   too  high  for  her  to  reach.      She 
said  the  woman   dressed  as  usual,  carried    her  away,  and 
held   her  there.      On    the  return    of  the   children  from 
Kingswood,    they  were  free   from   every   disturbance  for 
about  a   fortnight.     It   was  then  the  conclusion  of  No- 
vember, at   which   time  the   tormentor  revived  its   perse- 
cution,  and  began  to   speak  so  loud,  that  the  maid  heard 
it  pronounce   several    sentences,  declaring  that  the  affair 
would  be  brought  to  light,  and  that  it  would  not  torment 
them  long. 

Weary  of  being  thus  harassed,  Mrs.  Giles  resolved  to 
apply  to  a  cunning  woman,  as  she  was  called,  at  Bedmin- 
ster.  Accompanied  by  two  of  her  neighbours,  she  ac- 
cordingly went  thither,  and  before  she  explained  her  er- 
rand, the  woman  tolcl  her  she  should  have  come  before; 

that 


MISCELLANEOUS    GLEANINGS.  323 

that  horrible  witchcraft  had  hcen  practised  at  her  house  ; 
that  it  had  cost  her  husband  his  life  ;  and  that  a  man  in 
Bristol  had  given  a  woman  in  Gloucestershire  many  pieces 
of  gold  to  do  it.  She  mentioned  many  other  things 
which  perfectly  coincided  with  the  circumstances  before 
related,  as  that  the  spirit  knew  all  languages,  and  all 
thoughts.  She  directed  Mrs.  Giles  to  take  the  children's 
first  water  in  the  morning,  and  put  it  on  the  fire,  and  if, 
when  it  boiled,  colours  like  those  of  the  rainbow  proceeded 
from  it,  she  was  able  to  afford  relief,  and  would  do  the 
rest  at  home.  These  directions  were  complied  with, 
the  colours  appeared,  and  from  that  time  they  remained 
unmolested. 

Such  are  the  principal  features  of  an  affair  of  which 
it  is  impossible  to  attempt  a  rational  explanation.  We 
are  loth  to  admit  the  existence  of  that  kind  of  supernatural 
power  to  which  Mr.  Durbin  attributes  the  circumstances 
here  related,  and  we  are  equally  unwilling  to  call  in 
question  the  .veracity  and  integrity  of  that  gentleman. 
We  must  therefore  leave  it  to  the  enlightened  reader,  to 

O 

form  that  opinion  of  the  case  which  is  most  suitable  to  his 
own  particular  way  of  thinking. 


MISCELLANEOUS  GLEANINGS. 

No.  III. 
The  Man  of  Three  Centuries. 

J.A.RCHIBALD  CAMPBELL,  a  cadet  in  the  family  of  Archin- 
break,  in  Argyllshire,  was  born  in  February,  1699.  Hav- 
ing by  the  goodness  of  that  family  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  a  liberal  education  at  home,  he  was  afterwards 
sent  to  Edinburgh  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  his  stu- 
dies \vith  a  view  to  the  Church. — There,  however,  smitten 
by  the  charms  of  a  fair  one,  he  married  at  the  a^e  of  17, 

T  r  2  by 


324  MISCELLANEOUS    GLEANINGS. 

by  which  imprudent  step  he  so  much  displeased  his  patron, 
that  he  took  no  further  notice  of  him.  Upon  this  lie 
went  to  London,  hound  himself  apprentice  to  a  watch- 
maker, and  there  followed  that  trade  for  21  years.  His 
wife  died  in  London,  and  he  married  a  second  wife  not 
long  after.  In  his  43rd  year  he  went  into  the  army,  and 
7'enmined  in  it  seven  years.  After  this  he  went  to  Paris, 
and  wrought  at  his  husiness  one  year  there ;  from  thence 
he  removed  to  Ireland,  and  followed  in  that  country  the 
same  occupation  for  a  numher  of  years.  There  ,  too, 
he  married  his  present  wife,  in  his  69th  year.  On  his 
passage  from  Ireland  to  Campbelton,  he  was  wrecked 
upon  the  island  of  Racharis,  and  lost  the  whole  of  his 
property,  amounting  to  about  5001.  Since  that  period  he 
has  resided  in  Tarbet,  in  Kintyre,  Argyllshire,  regularly 
working  at  his  trade,  till  within  these  14  years.  He  has 
a  small  pension  from  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Argyll, 
whom  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  annually  at 
Inverary,  for  many  years.  Not  farther  back  than  August 
last,  he  went  to  pay  his  respects  to  his  Grace,  and  walked 
from  Tarbet  to  Inverary,  a  distance  of  67  miles,  in  three 
days.  He  is  now  (May,  1805)  upon  a  visit  to  his  friends 
at  Gourock,  and  walks  about  five  miles  every  day.  His 
mental  faculties  still  seem  to  be  in  their  vigour,  and  none 
of  his  senses  are  impaired  except  that  of  vision.  Only  a 
few  months  since  he  began  to  make,  a  clock,  but  was 
obliged  to  give  it  up  owing  to  the  failure  of  his  sight.  He 
is  a  very  temperate  man,  has  been  seldom  or  never  intoxi- 
cated, and  ascribes,  under  Providence,  the  extraordinary 
length  of  his  life  to  his  temperance  and  regularity. 

Extraordinary  Fate  of  a  Dog. 

About  the  year  1788,  when  Lady  Guildford  resided  in 
Bushey  Park,  she  lost  a  favourite  dog.  She  first  adver- 
ti/ed  it,  with  a  reward  of  five  guineas,  and  afterwards 

ten, 


MISCELLANEOUS  GLEAXIXG3.  325 

ten,  but  without  success.  In  May,  1803,  a  labourer 
grubbing  up  some  old  pollards,  found  the  skeleton  of  the 
very  dog,  and  the  brass  collar  round  his  neck,  and  be- 
low it  the  skeletons  of  two  hares  or  rabbits,  which  he  had 
pursued  into  the  tree,  whence  it  is  supposed  they  could  not, 
extricate  themselves. 

A  Woman  with  Horns. 

Elizabeth  WcstJy,  now  (1805)  upwards  of  seventy  years 
of  age,  and  residing  at  Macroom,  in  the  county  of  Cork, 
about  seven  years  since,  suffered  for  some  time  a  consi- 
derable degree  of  pain  at  one  side  of  her  head,  from 
which  a  horn,  resembling  in  form  and  substance  that  of  a 

*  O 

ram,  has  grown  to  the  length  of  nine  inches.  From  a  simi- 
litude of  sensation,  she  is  led  to  expect  another  horn  at  the 
opposite  side  of  her  forehead. 

Singular  Petition. 

The  following  curious  petition  is  said  to  have  been  laid 
before  the  legislature  of  the  state  of  Maryland  on  the 
20th  of  December,  1804  : — The  humble  petition  of  poor 
Jack  Clarke,  of  the  city  of  Baltimore,  sheweth  to  your 
honours,  that  your  unfortunate  petitioner,  while  plough- 
ing the  dominions  of  old  Neptune,  having  carried  rather 
taught  sail  in  squally  weather,  the  gales  of  misfortune 
blowing  hard,  he  overran  his  reckoning.  The  watch  on 
deck  keeping  a  bad  look-out,  he  was  stranded  on  the 
shoals  of  poverty  —  soon  after  over-hauled,  and  made 
prisoner  by  the  commander  of  a  press-gang,  called  the 
sheriff  of  Baltimore;  and  now  lies  locked  under  hatches 
in  limbo,  to  the  great  grief  of  his  darling  Poll  and  sweet 
little  crew,  who  ever  since  his  imprisonment,  have  been 
on  short  allowance.  Therefore  your  petitioner  prays, 
your  honours  will  order  the  hatches  to  be  unbarred  by  an 
act  of  insolvency,  that  his  fasts  may  be  cut,  that  he  may 


026  MISCELLANEOUS  GLEANINGS. 

again  put  to  sea  on  a  cruise,  in  hopes  that  fortune  may 
prove  kind  in  the  distribution  of  her  prize-money,  and 
poor  Jack  once  more  enabled  to  cheer  the  heart  of  his 
darling  Poll  and  her  sweet  little  babes.  And  your  peti- 
tioner will  ever  pray,  Sec. 

Instances  of  Vegetation  in  the  human  Body. 

The  following  singular  circumstance  is  recorded  on  au- 
thority : — In  the  month  of  June,  180-4,  the  only  daughter 
of  Mr.  Wright,  of  Duke  Street,  Manchester  Square,  aged 
three  years,  appeared  for  nearly  three  weeks  to  be  unwell, 
as  if  from  cold  in  the  head  and  nose  ;  she  could  hardly 
speak,  and  the  parents,  from  her  nose  getting  quite  flat, 
began  to  fear  it  was  broken,  but  probably  the  child  had 
had  a  fall  or  blow,  as  her  forehead  appeared  black  :  an 
abscess  in  the  left  nostril  appeared  to  be  gathering. 
Thursday  another  surgeon  called  to  sec  the  child,  and 
probed  the  nose,  when  he  drew  out  a  white  kidney  bean, 
swelled  four  times  as  big  as  its  common  size  when  dry,  and 
which  had  begun  to  grow  in  the  child's  head,  striking 
upwards,  and  was  extracted  perfect,  except  splitting  in 
half.  The  father  has  got  it  in  spirits  ;  since  which  the  child 
is  as  well  as  itwas  before  :  it  hnd,  somehow  or  other,  pushed 
this  bean  up  its  nose,  and  could  not  get  it  back  again. 

An  instance  of  a  similar  kind  occurred  at  Bourdeaux  in 
the  year  1761.  On  the  15th  of  June,  says  Renard,  a  sur- 
geon of  that  city,  I  was  called  to  look  at  a  child,  in  whose 
right  nostril  a  tumour  had  been  observed  for  two  days. 
I  discovered  a  livid  substance,  which  caused  me  to  ima- 
gine that  it  was  a  polypus.  Several  surgeons  were  called 
in  :  they  were  all  of  my  opinion,  and  deliberated  con- 
cerning the  operation,  having  previously  prepared  the 
child  for  it.  On  the  30th  I  prepared  to  perform  it,  in 
the  presence  of  the  same  surgeons.  I  introduced  a  pair 
of  nippers  into  the  nostrils  and  laid  hold  of  the  substance, 

which 


MISCELLANEOUS  GLEANINGS.  327 

which  followed  not  without  some  difficulty,  but  without 
hemorrhage.  The  latter  circumstance  surprised  us  much. 
The  father  of  the  child  having  taken  up  the  strange  sub- 
stance, told  us  that  it  was  a  pea,  which  had  vegetated  in 
that  situation.  We  were  all,  in  fact,  obliged  to  acknow- 
ledge our  mistake  ;  but  what  appeared  not  a  little  extra- 
ordinary, this  pea  had  shot  ten  or  twelve  roots,  the  short- 
est of  which  was  one  inch,  and  the  longest  three  inches 
four  lines  in  length. 

O 

Another  phenomenon  not  very  dissimilar  to  the  above, 
Avas  observed  at  a  village  near  Noyon,  in  France.  In  the 
month  of  October,  1758,  a  peasant  named  Eloy  Rochefort, 
ate  some  grains  of  oats,  which  remained  in  his  stomach 
till  the  end  of  July,  1759.  During  this  interval  he  was 
affected  in  different  way?,  either  by  symptoms  of  fever,  or 
vomiting,  or  violent  pains  in  the  stomach,  A  surgeon  of 
Noyon,  who  was  sent  for,  found  him  very  feverish  and 
inclined  to  vomit.  He  gave  him  an  emetic,  which  made 
him  cast  up  immediately,  besides  other  corrupted  matter, 
the  grains  of  oats  which  had  grown  in  his  stomach.  They 
had  produced  only  a  weak  stem,  resembling  the  beard 
which  grows  on  the  cars  of  corn,  but  much  longer  and 
softer.  Some  of  the  grains  had  ^rown  to  the  length  of 

o  o  o 

seven  or  eight  inches,  and  were  intersected  by  small  joints. 
After  this  vomiting  be  soon  recovered  his  health. 

Animals  are  subject  to  the  same  accidents,  if  we  believe 
the  relation  of  Father  Kirker,  who  informs  us  that  an  ele- 
phant having  eaten  some  sugar-canes,  one  of  them  began 
to  grow,  and  produced  loaves  in  his  belly, 

Remarkable  Turnip. 

The  Journal  des  Savans  for  the  year  1677,  contains  a 
description  and  engraving  of  a  most  extraordinary  turnip, 
found  ina  garden  belonging  to  the  Elector  of  Cologne, 
at  Wieden,  two  miles  from  Juliers,  on  the  road  to  Bonn. 

The 


028         LIFE  OF  LOUISA,   OR  LADY  OF  THE  HAY-STACK. 

The  leaves  appeared  ranged  like  palm-branches,  and 
formed  a  most  beautiful  canopy.  Under  this  canopy  was 
seen  a  distinct  human  head,  complete  in  all  its  parts  ;  be- 
low it  was  seen  the  neck  and  breast,  and  the  roots  were 
disposed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  resemble  arms  and  legs. 
The  whole  resembled  a  naked  female  squatting  down,  with 
her  arms  crossed  before  her. 


Circumstantial  liistory  of  the  Life  of  the  unfortunate  Louisa, 
or  the  Lady  of  the  Hay-stach. 

J.N  the  year  1776,  a  young  woman  stopped  at  the  village 
of  Bourton,  near  Bristol,  and  begged  the  refreshment  of 
a  little  milk.  There  was  something  so  interesting  in  her 
whole  appearance,  as  to  engage  the  attention  of  every 
one  who  saw  her.  She  was  young  and  beautiful,  her  man- 
ners graceful  and  elegant,  and  her  countenance  highly 
interesting.  She  was  alone,  a  stranger,  and  in  extreme 
distress,  yet  she  uttered  no  complaint;  and  used  no  arts 
to  excite  compassion.  Her  whole  deportment  bore  visible 
marks  of  superior  breeding;  but  there  was  a  wildness  and 
want  of  consistency  in  all  she  said  and  did.  As  she  could 
not  be  induced  even  to  make  known  her  name,  she  was 
distinguished  by  that  of  Louisa. 

All  day  she  wandered  about  in  search  of  a  place  to  lay 
her  wretched  head,  and  at  night  took  up  her  lodging  un- 
der a  hay-stack.  The  neighbouring  ladies  remonstrated 
with  her  on  the  danger  of  such  an  exposed  situation,  but 
in  vain.  Their  bounty  supplied  her  with  the  necessaries 
of  life,  but  neither  prayers  nor  menaces  could  induce  her 
to  sleep  in  a  house.  As  she  at  times  discovered  symp- 
toms of  insanity,  she  was  conveyed  to  Bristol,  and  con- 
fined in  St.  Peter's  hospital,  in  that  city.  She  was  re- 
leased :  with  all  the  speed  her  small  remains  of  strength 

allowed 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  329 

allowed,  she  hastened  to  her  favourite  hay -stack,  though 
six  miles  distant  from  the  place  of  her  confinement.  Her 
rapture  was  inexpressible,  on  finding  herself  again  at 
liberty,  and  once  more  safe  beneath  this  miserable  shelter. 
Four  years  this  forlorn  creature  devoted  herself  to  this 
desolate  life,  without  knowing  the  comfort  of  a  bed,  or 
the  protection  of  a  roof.  Hardship,  sickness,  cold  and 
misery,  gradually  impaired  her  health,  and  injured  her 
beauty,  but  still  she  was  an  interesting  figure,  and  had  an 
uncommon  sweetness  in  her  air  and  manner.  She  was 
above  that  vanity  so  common  to  her  sex ;  for  she  would 
never  wear  or  accept  of  any  finery  or  ornaments,  but  hung 
them  on  the  bushes  as  unworthy  her  attention.  Her  way 
of  life  was  the  most  harmless  and  inoffensive ;  every  fine 
morning  she  walked  round  the  village,  conversed  with  the 
poor  children,  made  them  presents  of  such  things  as  were 
given  her,  and  received  others  in  return,  but  would  take 
no  food  but  milk,  tea,  and  the  most  simple  diet. 

No  means  were  left  untried  by  the  neighbouring  ladies 
to  prevail  on  her  to  live  in  a  house,  but  her  constant  reply 
was,  "  that  trouble  and  misery  dwelt  in  houses,  and  that 
there  was  no  happiness  but  in  liberty  and  fresh  air." 
From  a  certain  peculiarity  of  expression,  and  a  slight 
foreign  tincture  in  her  pronunciation,  and  the  construc- 
tion of  some  sentences,  it  was  conjectured  that  she  was 
not  a  native  of  this  country  ;  and  various  attempts  were 
made,  but  in  vain,  to  draw  from  this  circumstance  some 
knowledge  of  her  origin.  A  gentleman  who  went  to  see 
her,  addressed  her  in  the  languages  of  the  continent,  at 
which  she  appeared  uneasy,  restless  and  embarrassed  ;  but 
when  he  spoke  in  German,  her  emotion  was  too  srreat  to 

1  O 

be  suppressed  ;  she  turned  from  him  and  burst  into  tears. 

At  length,  but  not  without  great  reluctance  on  her  part, 

the    unfortunate   Louisa  was   removed   to   the   village  of 

O 

Biltou,  in  Gloucestershire.     Here  she   was  placed  under 
Eccentric,  No.  VII.  u  u  the 


330  LOUISA,    OU    LADY    OF    THE    HAy-STACK. 

the  care  of  Mr.  Henderson,  the  keeper  of  a  private  mad- 
house, and  supported  by  a  subscription  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  benevolent  Miss  Hannah  More,  and  her  sis- 
ters. By  the  attentions  of  a  skilful  physician,  her  health 
improved,  but  her  intellects  became  more  and  more  im- 
paired ;  so  that  there  was  now  more  of  idiotism  than 
lunacy  in  her  manners  and  behaviour. 

In  the  mean  time,  as  it  had  been  concluded  from  her 
account  that  she  was  of  German  origin,  all  the  particulars 
that  could  be  collected  concerning  her  were  translated 
into  that  language,  and  transmitted  to  the  newspapers  of 
Vienna,  and  those  of  other  large  cities  in  Germany,  in 
the  hope  that  they  might  lead  to  some  discovery.  The 
narrative  was  likewise  published  in  most  of  the  great  towns 
of  France. 

These  precautions,  however,  reflected  no  certain  light 
on  the  history  of  poor  Louisa:  but  in  the  year  1785,  a 
pamphlet,  without  either  name  or  place,  appeared  in  the 
French  language,  under  the  title  of  The  Stranger,  a  true 
history.  It  was  supposed  to  have  been  originally  published 
in  some  part  of  the  Austrian  dominions.  By  way  of 
introduction,  the  author  gives  an  affecting  recital  of  the 
sufferings  of  the  poor  female  stranger,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Bristol,  translated  into  French,  from  the  account 
recently  published  in  the  English  newspapers,  leaving  it 
to  the  public  to  determine,  whether  the  unhappy  Louisa 
and  the  subject  of  his  narrative,  were,  or  were  not  one  and 
the  same  person.  The  same  question  we  shall  leave  to 
the  decision  of  our  readers,  after  they  have  made  them- 
selves acquainted  with  the  circumstances  of  this  extraor- 
dinary history,  with  which  we  shall  now  present  them. 

In  the  summer  of  the  year  1768,  Count  Cobeuzel,  the 
Austrian  minister  at  Brussels,  received  a  letter  from  a  lady 
at  Bourdeaux  ;  the  writer  requested  him  not  to  think  it 
strange,  if  his  friendship  and  advice  were  eagerly  sought, 

adding, 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  331 

adding-,  that  "  the  universal  respect  which  his  talents  and 
his  interest  at  court  commanded,  induced  her  to  address 
herself  to  him  ;  that  he  should  soon  know  who  it  was  that 
had  presumed  to  solicit  his  good  offices ;  and  that  he 
would  perhaps  not  repent  of  having  attended  to  her." 
This  letter  was  written  in  very  indifferent  French,  and 
signed  La  Friilen.  The  count  was  requested  to  return  an 
answer  to  Mademoiselle  La  Friilen,  at  Bourdeaux. 

TSot  long  afterwards,  he  received  a  letter  from  Prague, 
signed  Count  J.  von  Weissendorf,  in  which  he  was  in- 
treated  to  give  the  best  advice  in  his  power  to  Mademoi- 
selle La  Friilen,  to  interest  himself  warmly  in  her  behalf, 
to  write  to  Bourdeaux  in  her  favour,  and  even  to  advance 
her  money  to  the  amount  of  a  thousand  ducats  if  she  wanted 
it.  The  letter  concluded  in  these  words  :  "  when  you  shall 
know,  sir,  who  this  stranger  is,  you  will  be  delighted  to 
think  you  have  served  her,  and  grateful  to  those  who  have 
given  you  an  opportunity  of  doing  it." 

In  his  reply  to  the  lady,  his  excellency  assured  her  that 
he  was  highly  sensible  of  her  good  opinion  ;  that  he  should 
be  proud  of  assisting  her  with  his  advice,  and  of  serving 
her  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  but  that  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  he  should,  in  the  first  instance,  be  informed  of 
her  real  name. 

After  this,  the  count  received  a  letter  from  Vienna, 
signed  Count  Dietrichstcin,  in  which  he  was  likewise  re- 
quested to  pay  every  possible  attention  to  Mademoiselle 
La  Friilen,  and  in  particular  to  recommend  to  her  the 
practice  of  frugality.  This,  as  well  as  the  letter  from 
Prague,  was  answered  by  the  count,  but  no  notice  was 
taken  of  the  reply  to  either. 

In  the  mean  time,  his  correspondence  with  the  young 
lady  at  Bourdeaux  continued.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
year  Madame  1'Englume,  the  wife  of  a  tradesman  of  that 
city,  went  on  business  to  Brussels,  and  that  business 

u  u  2  having 


332  LOU19A,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY -STACK. 

having  introduced  her  to  Count  Cobenzel,  she  spoke  to  him 
in  terms  of  the  highest  praise  of  his  young  unknown  cor- 
respondent. She  extolled  her  beauty,  her  elegance,  and 
above  all,  that  prudence  and  propriety  of  conduct,  which 
did  so  much  honour  to  a  person  left  at  that  tender  age,  at 
her  own  disposal.  She  added,  that  the  young  lady  had 
a  house  of  her  own,  that  she  was  generous,  expensive,  and 
even  magnificent ;  that  she  had  been  three  years  at  Bour- 
deaux;  that  the  distinguished  attention  with  which  she 

*  o 

was  treated  by  the  Marshal  de  Richelieu,  the  great  re- 
semblance of  her  features  to  those  of  the  late  Emperor 
Francis,  and  the  entire  ignorance  of  the  world  concerning 
her  birth,  had  given  rise  to  strange  conjectures;  and  that 
though  the  young  lady  had  often  been  questioned  on  the 
subject  of  her  family,  she  persisted  in  observing  the  most 
scrupulous  silence. 

In  one  of  her  letters  to  Count  Cobenzel,  Mademoiselle, 
la  Friilen  expressed  great  displeasure  against  the  Count 
Mercy-Argenteau,  the  Austrian  ambassador  at  Paris,  on 
account  of  his  extreme  curiosity  concerning  her.  She 
added  that  his  persecution  would  be  fruitless,  as  she  was 
determined  not  to  admit  him  to  her  confidence.  At  the 
same  time,  she  declared  her  readiness  to  inform  the  count 
of  every  particular;  but  as  the  secret  was  too  important 
to  be  trusted  to  chance,  she  intended  to  visit  the  Austrian 
Netherlands,  and  acquaint  him  with  her  history.  She 
meanwhile  sent  him  her  picture,  which  she  desired  him 
attentively  to  examine,  and  which  she  imagined  would 
lead  him  to  some  conjectures  concerning  what  she  had  to 
relate.  The  count  saw  in  it  nothing  more  than  the  fea- 
tures of  a  lovely  woman,  but  Prince  Charles  of  Lorraine 
thought  the  portrait  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  late 
emperor  his  brother. 

Count  Cobenzel  continued  to  answer  her  letters  in  a 
polite,  and  even  an  affectionate  manner,  but  was  particu- 
larly 


LOUISA,    OR  LADY     OF    THE     HAY-STACK.  3-33 

larly  guarded  in  bis  expressions.  On  one  occasion  she 
informed  him,  that  she  would  send  him  two  more  pictures 
with  one  of  which,  she  requested  him  to  compare  her 
own.  The  count,  not  receiving  them,  urged  her  to  fulfil 
her  promise.  She  replied,  the  she  had  sent  them  to  a 
jeweller,  to  take  them  out  of  a  casket,  in  which  they  were 
set  with  diamonds,  and  that  as  soon  as  he  returned  them, 
they  should  be  dispatched  to  Brussels.  About  a  fortnight 
afterwards,  the  count  received  the  portraits  of  the  empe- 
ror and  empress  ;  the  former  of  which  was  known  by  Prince 
Charles  to  have  been  painted  by  Liotard. 

In  the  month  of  December,  the  count  received  an  ex- 
traordinary letter,  dated  "  Vienna — From  my  bed,  two 
in  the  morning  ;"  in  which  he  was  highly  commended  for 
the  good  advice  he  had  given  the  young  stranger,  and  re- 
quested to  continue  his  attentions.  He  was  likewise  de- 
sired to  inculcate  economy,  and  particularly  admonished 
of  the  importance  of  the  secret.  This  letter  was  without 
signature. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1769,  Count  Cobenzel  re- 
ceived some  dispatches  from  Vienna,  containing  several 
extraordinary  circumstances  relative  to  the  stranger.  The 
court  of  Vienna  had  sent  a  requisition  to  that  of  Versailles 
to  apprehend  Mademoiselle  la  Friilen,  and  to  send  her  to 
Brussels  to  be  examined  by  Count  Cobenzel,  and  the  first 
president  M.  de  Neny.  At  the  same  time  Prince  Charles 
received  a  letter  from  the  empress,  enjoining  him  to  be 
careful  that  the  prisoner  should  not  escape,  and  conclud- 
ing as  follows: — "This  wretch  wishes  to  pass  for  the 
daughter  of  our  late  royal  master.  If  there  was  the  least 
probability  in  the  story,  I  would  love  her  and  treat  her  like 
one  of  my  own  children  ;  but  I  am  convinced  she  is  an 
impostor.  I  wish  every  possible  effort  to  be  made  to  pre- 
vent this  unhappy  creature  from  profaning  any  longer  the 
dear  and  venerable  name  of  our  departed  lord."  Her 

majesty 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

majesty  recommended  the  strictest  secrecy,  adding,  that 
the  adventure  had  already  made  too  much  noise,  and  that 
all  Europe  would  soon  ring;  of  it. 

The  affair  had  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  court  of 
Vienna  in  the  following  manner.  While  Joseph  II.  was 
on  his  travels  in  Italy,  the  King  of  Spain  received  a  letter 
purporting  to  have  been  written  by  his  imperial  majesty, 
informing  him  in  confidence,  that  his  father  had  left  a 
natural  daughter,  whose  history  was  known  only  to  his 
sister,  the  Archduchess  Marianne,  himself,  and  a  few  inti- 
mate friends;  that  she  had  been  most  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  him  by  his  father,  and  resided  at  Bourdeaux. 
The  king  was  intreated  to  send  for  her,  to  place  her  with 
some  lady  of  rank  at  Madrid  or  in  a  convent,  where  she 
might  be  treated  with  the  respect  due  to  her  birth,  till 
some  plan  should  be  concluded  on,  for  the  future  hap- 
piness of  her  life.  This  mark  of  friendship  he  requested 
of  his  catholic  majesty,  because  he  himself  durst  not  un- 
dertake the  office,  lest  the  affair  should  come  to  the  ears 
of  the  empress,  whom  he  wished  to  remain  in  perpetual 
ignorance  of  the  story.  The  King  of  Spain  thought  this 
letter  so  extraordinary,  that  he  transmitted  it  to  the  em- 
peror, requesting  some  explanation.  Joseph,  who  had 
not  written  it,  and  was  totally  ignorant  of  the  affair,  sent 
it  to  his  mother,  who  made  immediate  enquiries  concern- 
ing the  stranger,  and  dispatched  a  messenger  to  Bour- 
deaux to  seize  her.  She  was  arrested  in  her  own  house 
inAugust,  J769,  by  M.  de  Ferand,  lieutenant  of  the  Mare- 
chaussee  of  the  province. 

Fear  and  distress  greatly  impaired  La  Friilen's  beauty. 
Continual  spasms,  attended  with  a  spitting  of  blood, 
obliged  her  to  travel  very  slowly.  Just  before  she  quit- 
ted the  French  dominions,  a  stranger,  dressed  like  a 
courier,  put  a  billet  into  her  hands  at  the  coach  window, 
and  withdrew  with  the  utmost  precipitation.  She  begged 

(he 


LOUISA,  Oil  LADY    OF   THE    HAY-STACK.  335 

the  officer  by  whom  she  was  accompanied  to  read  the 
billet,  which  contained  only  these  words  :  "  My  dear 
girl,  every  thing  has  been  done  to  save  you  :  keep  up 
your  spirits,  and  do  not  despair."  She  declared,  that 
she  neither  knew  the  courier,  rior  the  hand-writing. 

On  her  arrival  at  Brussels,  she  was  immediately  taken 
to  Count  Cobenzel's  hotel.  Her  figure  was  sufficient  to 
interest  the  most  insensible  heart  in  her  favour.  She  was 
tall  and  elegantly  formed  ;  her  air  was  simple  and  majes- 
tic; her  complexion  fair;  her  arms  were  delicately 
turned;  her  hair  was  brown,  and  calculated  to  receive 
the  embellishments  of  art  to  the  greatest  advantage.  She 
had  a  freshness  of  colour,  which  art  cannot  imitate,  fine 
dark  eye?,  and  a  look  that  expressed  every  emotion  of  her 
soul.  She  spoke  French  with  a  German  accent,  and 
appeared  much  confused,  but  without  any  particular  symp- 
tom of  female  weakness. 

Her  alarm  was  soon  dissipated  by  that  confidence 
which  the  count  so  well  knew  how  to  inspire.  In  her 
letters  she  had  always  called  him  father,  and  still  conti- 
nued to  address  him  by  the  same  endearing  name.  He 
desired  her  to  make  herself  perfectly  easy,  telling  her 
she  should  experience  the  kindest  treatment,  if  she  would 
strictly  adhere  to  the  truth.  All  her  distress  appeared 
to  arise  from  the  circumstance  of  the  debts  she  had  con- 
tracted at  Bourdeaux,  which  she  considered  as  the  sole 
cause  of  her  being  apprehended.  She  expressed  no  con- 
cern at  being  a  prisoner,  and  only  asked  the  count 
whether  she  might  not  remain  at  his  house.  This  he 
frankly  told  her  was  impossible,  at  the  same  time  assur- 
ino-  her  that  she  should  be  treated  with  all  imaginable 

o  o 

respect,  in  an  apartment  he  had  prepared  for  her  at  the 
fortress  of  Monterel,  and  that  if  she  wanted  any  thing, 
she  had  only  to  express  her  wish,  and  it  should  be  com- 
plied with.  He  promised  to  wait  on  her  the  next  day  ; 
on  which  *he  took  her  leave,  and  was  conducted  10  the 

fort 


336  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

ibrt  by  Major  de  Camerlang,  and  M.  de   Neny  provided 
ibr  lier  a  female  attendant. 

When  the  count  went  the  next  day  to  see  her,  he 
found  her  in  good  spirits;  she  seemed  delighted  with  her 
apartment,  and  the  treatment  of  those  about  her.  The 
count  offered  her  the  use  of  any  books  from  his  library. 
She  thanked  him,  but  said,  she  never  had  a  moment  that 
hung  heavy  on  her  hands,  so  much  was  her  time  taken 
up  with  visionary  projects  for  her  future  life.  The  fact 
was,  that  she  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  that  M. 
de  Camerlang  taught  her  to  sign  her  name  while  she  was 
in  confinement. 

The  following  day  her  examination  commenced. — 
Count  Cobenzel  and  Count  de  Neny  repaired  to  the  fort, 
and  the  latter,  who  had  not  before  seen  the  prisoner,  was 
extremely  struck  with  her  resemblance  to  the  late  empe- 
ror. They  asked  where  she  was  born.  She  answered, 
that  she  knew  not,  but  had  been  told  the  place  where  she 
had  been  brought  up,  was  called  Bohemia.  She  was 
asked  if  that  place  was  a  town,  and  what  was  the  earliest 
circumstance  of  her  life  that  she  could  recollect.  She 
said  the  place  where  she  was  brought  up  was  a  small  se- 
questered house  in  the  country,  with  neither  a  town  nor  a 
village  near  it,  and  that  before  she  inhabited  this  house, 
she  had  no  recollection  of  any  thing  that  had  happened 
to  her.  In  her  infancy  she  had  been  under  the  care  of 
t\vo  women,  one  about  fifty  years  old,  the  other  about 
thirty  ;  the  former  she  called  Mama,  and  the  latter  Ca- 
tharine. She  slept  in  the  apartment  of  the  first,  and 
both  treated  her  with  great  kindness  and  affection.  An 
ecclesiastic  came  from  time  to  time  to  say  mass  in  an 
apartment  of  the  house,  and  to  teach  her  the  catechism  : 
and  the  woman  whom  she  called  Mama  had  begun  to  in- 
struct her  in  reading  and  writing;  but  from  the  moment 
the  priest  knew  of  this  he  opposed  it,  and  she  was  taught 
no  more,  lie,  however,  always  treated  her  with  very 
great  respect.  She 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF     THE    HAY-STACK,  337 

She  said  that  about  a  year  afterwards  a  handsome  man 
in  a  hunting  suit,  accompanied  by  a  gentleman  dressed  in 
the  same  manner,  came  to  the  house  where  she  resided. 
She  was  immediately  called  ;  the  stranger  placed  her  on 
his  knee,  caressed  her,  and  directed  her  to  be  good  and 
obedient.  She  supposed  that  this  person  had  seen  her  be- 
fore, as  she  recollected  that  he  thought  her  grown  taller 
and  altered,  but  she  did  not  remember  to  have  ever 
seen  him  at  any  former  time.  In  about  a  year  and  a  half 
he  returned,  accompanied  by  the  same  attendant,  and 
in  the  same  kind  of  dress.  At  this  second  interview  the 
features  of  her  unknown  visitor  made  such  a  deep  im- 
pression on  her  mind,  that,  had  she  never  seen  him  more, 
she  should  not  have  forgotten  them.  He  was  of  a  mid- 

C7 

dling  size,  and  rather  corpulent,  had  an  open  counte- 
nance, a  ruddy  complexion,  dark  beard,  and  a  small 
white  spot  on  one  of  his  temples.  She  observed  that  M. 
de  Neny  bore  a  distant  resemblance  to  this  person,  par- 
ticularly in  the  lower  part  of  his  face.  At  this  second 
visit,  she  remarked  something  red  abont  the  stranger's 
neck,  under  his  riding  coat ;  she  enquired  what  it  was ; 
on  which  he  replied,  that  it  was  a  mark  of  distinction  worn 
by  officers.  Ignorant  in  every  particular,  she  inquired 
what  he  meant  by  officers.  He  answered,  "  They  are  men 
of  honour,  gallantry,  and  spirit,  whom  you  must  love, 
because  you  are  the  daughter  of  an  officer  yourself."  She 
added,  that  at  this  visit  she  felt  a  strong  attachment  to 
the  stranger,  and  when  he  took  leave  she  burst  into  tears, 
at  which  he  appeared  much  affected^  and  promised  her  to 
return  soon. 

He  did  not,  however,  keep  his  word,  for  it  was  not 
till  two  years  afterwards  that  he  returned,  and  when  she 
reproached  him  for  his  long  absence,  he  told  her,  that 
at  the  time  he  had  fixed  for  coming  to  see  her,  he  was 
very  ill  in  consequence  of  over-heating  himself  in  the 

Eccentric,  No.   VIII.  x  x  chace. 


338  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE     HAY-STACK, 

chace.  Prince  Charles  recollected,  that,  at  a  time  corres- 
ponding with  that  ahove-mentioned,  the  Emperor  was  ac- 
tually taken  ill  on  his  return  from  hunting. 

At  the  third  interview,  the  stranger  desired  to  be  left 
alone  with  her.  When  he  told  her  of  his  illness,  she 
shed  tears.  He  was  himself  moved,  and  inquired  why 
she  wept;  on  which  she  replied,  "  Because  I  love  you." 
He  declared  that  he  likewise  loved  her,  that  he  would 
take  care  of  her,  make  her  rich  and  happy,  and  give 
her  a  palace,  money,  and  attendants,  who  should  wear 
yellow  and  blue  liveries.  He  afterwards  asked  her  if 
she  did  not  wish  to  see  the  queen,  and  added,  "  you 
would  love  her  much  if  you  knew  her,  but  that  for 
her  peace  of  mind  you  must  never  do."  He  then 
presented  her  with  the  two  pictures  she  had  sent  from 
Bourdeaux  to  Count  Cobenzel.  She  told  the  stranger, 

O          * 

that  one  was  his  own  picture,  which  he  allowed,  and 
bade  her  keep  it  as  long  as  she  lived,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  Empress,  and  a  third  picture,  which  he  afterwards 
gave  her,  of  a  female  whose  features  were  half  concealed 
by  a  veil.  This  he  informed  her  was  her  own  mother. 
The  pictures  were  in  a  blue  silk  purse,  which  contained 
a  great  quantity  of  ducats.  On  quitting  her,  the  stran- 
ger assured  her  that  she  should  soon  be  happy,  and  all 
her  wishes  should  be  gratified  ;  but  she  must  promise 
him  never  to  marry,  and  always  keep  that  vow  in  her  re- 
membrance. He  then  took  leave  of  her  with  the  utmost 
tenderness,  and  she  was  herself  extremely  affected. 

She  related  that,  in  the  interval  between  the  first  and 
second  visit  of  this  stranger,  a  lady,  accompanied  by 
two  men,  came  one  day  to  see  her.  She  was  dressed 
with  great  simplicity,  was  of  a  middling  stature,  fair,  of 
a  pleasing  countenance,  and  rather  inclining  to  corpu- 
lence. This  lady  looked  at  her  very  earnestly,  and  began 
to  weep  :  she  asked  her  several  indifferent  questions,  and 

then 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  239 

then  kissing  her  twice  or  three  times,  said,  "  My  child, 
you  are  indeed  unfortunate  !"  Her  emotion  was  so  great, 
that  she  called  for  a  glass  of  water  to  keep  herself  from 
fainting;  and  after  drinking  it,  she  departed  immediately. 
She  could  not  be  positive  whether  the  picture  the  stran- 
ger gave  her  at  his  last  visit  bore  any  resemblance  to  this 
lady  or  not. 

When  the  examination  had  proceeded  so  far,  it  was 
found,  that  the  young  prisoner  began  to  prevaricate  about 
the  circumstances  of  her  history.  Yet  even  after  this 
was  discovered,  she  persisted  in  solemnly  declaring, 
that  her  narrative  of  the  events  previous  to  her  quitting 
the  house  in  which  she  was  educated,  was  faithful  in 
every  particular  ;  and  though  questions  were  put  to  her 
in  every  possible  form,  she  always  repeated  the  above 
facts  with  the  same  circumstances,  and  the  same  simpli- 
city. 

She  then  related  the  story  of  her  departure  from  the 
place  of  her  education,  in  words  to  the  following  effect : 
Soon  after  the  stranger's  last  visit,  the  ecclesiastic  who 
had  attended  her  from  her  infancy,  came  to  inform  her 
that  her  protector  was  no  more,  and  that  before  he  ex. 
pired,  he  had  ordered  her  to  be  conducted  to  some  con- 
vent in  France,  adding,  that  she  must  set  out  on  her 
journey  in  a  lew  days.  A  week  afterwards  he  returned 
in  a  post-chaise,  into  which  he  handed  her,  and  her  at- 
tendant Catharine,  and  then  got  into  it  again  himself 
She  wept  much  at  parting  with  the  woman  she  called 
Mama  ;  not  entirely  on  account  of  the  pain  she  felt  at 
the  separation,  but  likewise  because  she  was  terribly 
afraid  of  the  convent,  for  the  enquiries  she  had  made  in 
the  week  preceding  her  departure,  had  given  her  most 
frightful  ideas  of  the  life  to  which  she  thought  herself 

O  o 

condemned.  She  could  not  tell  what  towns  she  passed 
through  ;  but  on  her  arrival  at  Hamburgh,  the  priest  dis- 

x  x  2  missed 


310  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

missed  her  attendant,  and  made  her  embark  on  board  a 
vessel  freighted  for  Bourdeaux.  The  moment  she  took 
ship,  a  man,  apparently  about  fifty  years  old,  offered  her 
his  services,  and  eaid  that  he  would  take  care  of  her 
during  the  voyage.  On  their  arrival  at  Bourdeaux,  this 
man  took  her  to- the  house  of  a  German  merchant;  his 
wife  placed  her  with  Madame  Guillaumot,  with  whom 
she  remained  during  the  whole  of  her  stay  at  Bourdeaux. 
A  fortnight  after  her  removal  to  that  lady's  house,  a  let- 
ter was  brought  to  her,  addressed  to  Mademoiselle  Feli- 
cia Juliana  de  Schonau,  which  name  the  priest,  on  her 
leaving  Bohemia,  told  her  she  was  in  future  to  consider 
as  her  own.  This  letter  Madame  Guillaumot  read  to  her 
by  her  desire.  It  contained  directions  for  her  conduct, 
and  assurances  that  she  should  be  amply  supplied  with 
money ;  she  was  advised  to  remain  with  Madame  Guil- 
laumot, and  to  persuade  her  to  dismiss  all  her  other 
boarders,  and  to  devote  her  whole  attention  to  her  alone. 
This  letter  was  without  date  or  signature,  and  enjoined 
her  to  forbear  making  too  curious  inquiries.  Some  days 
afterwards,  a  gentleman  called  upon  her,  and  without 
any  preface,  put  into  her  hands  a  purse  of  a  thousand 
louis-d'ors,  which,  he  said,  he  was  ordered  to  advance  her 
for  the  purchase  of  furniture.  She  enquired  whence  the 
money  came,  on  which  he  begged  her  to  make  herself 
easy,  and  not  to  be  inquisitive.  She  now  took  a  house, 
and  furnished  it;  Madame  Guillaumot  went  with  her  as 
her  companion,  and  she  lived  at  Bourdeaux  among  peo- 
ple of  the  first  consequence,  till  the  day  of  her  confine- 
ment. 

The  manner  in  which  she  related  the  circumstances  of 
her  embarkation  at  Hamburgh,  appearing  improbable, 
Count  Cobenzel  told  her,  it  was  evident  her  story  was  un- 
true. He  bade  her  to  remember  what  he  had  before  told 
her,  thai  the  only  way  to  obtain  the  favour  and  protec- 
tion 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  341 

tion  of  the  empress,  was  to  be  ingenuous  and  sincere. 
On  this  condition  alone,  he  had  offered  her  his  best  ser- 
vices, but  as  she  had  deceived  him,  he  would  now  aban- 
don her  to  the  consequences  of  her  imposture.  She  was 
much  confused,  and  the  Count  having  risen  as  if  to  de- 
part, she  held  him  by  his  clothes,  threw  herself  at  his 
feet,  and  with  many  tears,  said  she  had  much  to  relate, 
but  could  not  proceed  in  the  presence  of  M.  de  Neny's 
secretary.  When  that  gentleman  had  withdrawn,  she 
again  fell  on  her  knees,  and  entreated  the  Count  to  take 
pity  on  her,  confessed  that  she  had,' deceived  him  in  the 
account  of  her  embarkation  at  Hamburgh,  but  called 
Heaven  to  witness,  that  all  she  had  said  concerning  her 
residence  in  Bohemia,  was  true  to  the  minutest  circum- 
stance. She  then  told  anew  the  story  of  her  departure, 
in  the  following  manner: 

When  the  priest  came  to  take  her  from  her  house  in 
Bohemia,  he  said  he  was  going  to  conduct  her  to  a  con- 
vent in  France.  The  little  which  she  had  heard  from  Ca- 
tharine and  her  Mama,  taught  her  to  consider  a  convent 
as  a  frightful  prison  from  which  there  was  no  escape. 
This  idea  operated  with  such  force  on  her  mind,  that  she 
formed  the  design  of  delivering  herself  by  flight  from 
such  captivity.  No  opportunity  for  executing  this  plan 
presented  itself,  till  her  arrival  at  Hamburgh,  where  her 
alarm  was  so  much  increased  by  the  sight  of  the  sea  and 
the  ships,  that  the  night  preceding  the  day  fixed  for  her 
departure,  she  rose  from  Catharine's  side  as  she  slept, 
made  a  small  parcel  of  some  linen,  took  the  blue  purse 
with  the  three  pictures,  and  one  hundred  ducats  given 
her  by  the  stranger,  and  at  day-break,  left  the  city. 
She  walked  a  long  time,  till,  exhausted  with  fatigue,  she 
took  refuge  in  the  barn  of  a  farmer,  and  there  fell  asleep. 
Here  she  was  discovered  by  the  owner,  who  struck  with 

her 


342  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

her  youth  and  figure,  civilly  offered  her  the  use  of  his  best 
bed,  and  a  small  room,  which  she  accepted. 

Her  fears  not  suffering  her  to  continue  so  near  Ham- 
burgh, she  quitted  her  disinterested  host,  who  refused  to 
accept  any  remuneration  for  his  kindness.  Mounting  a 
wretched  carriage,  she  then  took  the  road  towards  Swe- 
den, but  the  third  day  of  her  journey,  she  fell  from  the 
vehicle,  and  received  such  a  dangerous  wound  in  her 
head,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  take  her  to  a  neigh- 
bouring inn,  and  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  a  surgeon. 

A  Dutch  family  happened  to  stop  at  this  inn  on  their 
way  to  Pomerania  and  Sweden.  These  people  defrayed 
the  expences  of  her  cure,  and  permitted  her  to  join  their 
party.  She  mentioned  the  names  of  these  Hollanders, 
and  likewise  that  of  a  Lutheran  clergyman,  who  was 
with  them,  (and  who,  when  this  narrative  made  its  appear- 
ance, was  tutor  to  the  children  of  a  merchant  at  Ham- 
burgh.) On  her  arrival  at  Stockholm,  she  quitted  her 
fellow-travellers,  and  took  a  lodging  at  the  house  of  a 
German  woman,  whose  husband  held  a  small  post  under 
the  government.  Fortunately  for  the  stranger,  this  wo- 
man was  a  person  of  great  integrity,  and  conceived  the 
strongest  attachment  for  her.  During  Mademoiselle  La 
Friilen's  residence  here,  she  was  one  day  informed  by 
her  hair-dresser,  that  the  Count  Belgioioso,  the  imperial 
ambassador  at  Stockholm,  was  making  strict  enquiries 
after  a  young  lady  who  had  eloped  from  Hamburgh.  La 
Friilen,  who  began  to  form  some  idea  of  the  conse- 
quences of  her  flight,  and  was  more  terrified  by  the  ap- 
prehensions of  poverty  than  the  thoughts  of  a  convent, 
declared  that  she  was  the  person,  and  permitted  her  in- 
formant to  make  this  discovery  to  the  ambassador.  The 
following  day  she  received  a  note  from  the  Count,  invit- 
ing her  to  his  house.  This  note  was  read  to  her  by  a  girl 
who  attended  on  her,  named  Sophia,  and  she  did  not 

hesitate 


LOUISA,   OR   LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  343 

hesitate  a  moment  to  comply  with  the  Count's  invitation. 
He  received  her  with  great  respect,  enquired  the  circum- 
stances of  her  departure  from  Hamburgh,  and  conceiv- 
ing from  her  replies,  that  she  must  be  the  person  of 
whom  he  was  in  search,  he  told  her  that  he  was  instruct- 
ed to  take  the  greatest  care  of  her,  and  that  he  would 
call  upon  her  to  see  whether  she  was  in  convenient  lodg- 
ings. He  offered  her  money,  which  she  accepted,  for 
the  blue  purse  was  quite  empty ;  and  visited  her  the  next 
day.  when  he  told  her  that  he  would  procure  her  more 
commodious  apartments  near  his  own  house.  Two  days 
afterwards  she  removed  to  these  apartments,  which  were 
in  the  house  of  a  tradesman.  Sophia  continued  with 
her,  and  the  Count  sent  her  a  lackey,  and  furnished  her 
with  provisions  from  his  own  table.  Not  long  after  this, 
she  removed  at  his  desire,  to  his  own  house,  having  as  he 
informed  her,  been  still  more  strongly  recommended  to 
his  protection. 

She  farther  said,  that  while  she  was  at  the  house  of 
the  Count  Belgioioso,  she  was  so  affected  at  the  sight  of  a 
picture  resembling  the  stranger,  who  called  three  times  to 
see  her  in  Bohemia,  that  she  swooned  away  on  the  spot. 
(This  circumstance  was  confirmed  in  a  letter  by  the  Count, 
who  likewise  mentioned,  that  it  was  the  picture  of  the 
Emperor  Francis.)  She  was,  with  difficulty  brought  to 
herself,  when  a  violent  fever  succeeded,  and  nearly  proved 
fatal  to  her.  Her  illness  lasted  six  weeks,  during  which 
she  grew  taller,  and  was  so  much  altered,  that  she  ap- 
peared to  be  thirty  years  old,  though  she  could  not  at 
that  time  have  been  more  than  sixteen. 

About  the  time  of  her  elopement  from  Hamburgh,  the 
daughter  of  a  merchant  of  that  city  had  gone  off  with  a 
young  Englishman.  This  adventure  coming  to  the 
knowledge  of  Count  Belgioioso,  excited  suspicions  in  his 
mind  of  the  truth  of  our  heroine's  story,  and  led  him  to 

believe 


344  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

believe  that  she  might  perhaps  he  the  merchant's  daughter, 
and  not  the  young  lady  who  had  heen  so  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  his  care.     Accordingly,  on  her  recovery  he  told 
her,  he  had  received  advice  from  Hamburgh,  that  she  had 
quitted  that  city  in  the  company  of  a  young   Englishman. 
She  denied   the   charge  in   the  most  solemn   manner,  but 
the  Count  persisted  in  his  accusation  so  long,   that  being 
wearied  out  with  constant    persecution  on  the  subject,  she 
confessed  herself  guilty  of  what  she  knew  to  be  falsely 
laid  to  her  charge.      The  consequence  of  this  imprudence 
was  such  as  might   naturally  be    expected.     The  Count 
told  her  he   was  mistaken  as  to  her  person,  and  advised 
her  to  return  to  Hamburgh.     He    gave  her  twenty-five 
louis   d'ors,  to  defray  the  expences  of  her  journey,  and 
entrusted  her  to  the  care  of  a  merchant,    who  was  return- 
ing  to    that  city.       On  her  arrival    at    Hamburgh,    she 
anxiously  enquired  after  the  persons    whom  she  had  quit- 
ted with  such  precipitation,  and  walked  every  day  on  the 
quay,  and  the  most  frequented   parts    of  the  town.     In 
one   of  these  walks,   a  man,  who   appeared  to   be   about 
fifty  years  old,   and  had   followed  her  at  a  distance  for  se- 
veral days,  at  length  accosted   her,  and  proposed  to  her 
to  go  to  Bourdeaux.      To  this  she  consented   the   more 
readily,  as  she   recollected    that  this   was    the  place   for 
which  the  priest  had  wished  her  to  embark,  and  she  sup- 
posed  by  following    the    plan   originally    laid  down   for 
her,  she  should  the    more  easily  meet  with  those  who  in- 
terested   themselves  for  her    fate.      The    man    embarked 
with  her,   and   attended  her  during   the   voyage,    in   the 
manner  she    had   at  first  related.     The   prisoner  always 
persisted   in   declaring,  that  every  circumstance  she  had 
mentioned  concerning  her  arrival   and  residence  at  Bour- 
deaux, was  most  strictly  true. 

She  then  continued  her  history  as  follows  : — Soon  after 
she  had  taken   a   house  of  her  own,  to  which  she  was  ac- 
companied 


LOUISA,     OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

companied  by  Madame  Guillaumot,  she  received  an 
anonymous  letter,  in  which  she  was  directed  to  go  to  the 
Duke  de  Richelieu,  and  ask  that  protection  of  which  she 
stood  so  much  in  need.  This  the  writer  pressed  her  the 
more  earnestly  to  do,  as  the  duke  was  already  acquainted 
with  her  history.  She  accordingly  repaired  to  that  no- 
bleman, who  informed  her  that  he  had  received  a  letter 
from  the  Princess  of  Auersberg,  recommending  Mademoi- 
selle deSchonau,  in  the  strongest  terms,  to  his  protection. 
He  made  her  a  thousand  offers  of  service,  and  according 
to  his  custom,  said  more  than  a  virtuous  female  ought  to 
hear.  She  burst  into  tears,  and  on  her  knees  implored 
his  compassion  ;  and  the  duke,  on  his  part,  apologized  for 
his  imprudence. 

A  few  days  afterwards  he  called  upon  her,  and  ear- 
nestly recommended  to  her  to  learn  the  French  language. 
He  paid  her  several  other  visits,  and  always  treated  her 
with  the  highest  respect.  She  was  a  constant  guest  at 
all  his  entertainments,  and  when  questions  were  asked 
him  concerning  her,  he  invariably  replied  :  "  She  is  a  lady 
of  great  distinction." 

During  her  residence  at  Bourdeaux,  she  had  two  very 
advantageous  offers  of  marriage,  one  of  which  was  from 
the  nephew  of  M.  de  Ferrand,  a  counsellor  of  the  par- 
liament of  Bourdeaax;  but  she  refused  both,  conceiving 
herself  bound  to  perpetual  celibacy  by  the  promise  she 
had  made  to  the  stranger  in  Bohemia.  As  to  her  pecu- 
niary circumstances,  it  has  already  been  observed,  that 
a  person  unknown  presented  her  with  a  purse  containing 
a  thousand  louis  d'ors.  Through  the  same  channel  she, 
at  different  times,  received  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  livres(6250Z.  sterling)  without  being  able  to  dis- 
cover to  whom  she  was  indebted  for  this  munificent  al- 
lowance. These  circumstances  corroborated  her  suppo- 
sition, that  she  belonged  to  a  very  wealthy  family,  and 

Eccentric,  No.  VI11.  Y  Y  she 


346  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

she  spent  the  money  as  fast  as  she  received  it.  Her  re- 
mittances suddenly  stopped,  and  as  she  made  no  altera- 
tion in  her  style  of  living,  she  soon  contracted  debts  to 
the  amount  of  sixty  thousand  livres,  which  remained  un- 
paid at  the  time  of  her  being  arrested. 

In  the  distress  to  which  the  threats  of  her  creditors  re- 
duced her,  she  took  the  resolution  of  fabricating  several 
letters,  which,  when  read  at  her  examination,  she 
acknowledged  to  have  been  dictated  by  herself.  These 
were,  the  letters  to  Count  Cobenzel,  dated  "Vienna — 
From  my  bed — two  in  the  morning" — that  signed  Count 
J.  de  Weissendorff ;  another  to  the  emperor,  directed 
to  Florence  ;  another  to  the  Bavarian  minister  at 
Paris  ;  and  lastly,  the  letter  to  the  king  of  Spain,  which 
had  led  to  her  apprehension.  Though  she  frankly  con- 
fessed that  she  had  sent  all  these  letters,  she  at  the  same 
time  declared  her  utter  ignorance  of  that  signed 
"  Count  Dietrichstein,"  and  of  several  others  which  the 
Counts  Cobenzel  and  Neny  had  from  time  to  time  re- 
ceived concerning  her. 

Such  was  her  simplicity,  that  it  was  impossible  to  make 
her  sensible  how  highly  criminal  she  had  been,  in  pro- 
curing letters  to  be  forged  on  a  subject  of  such  impor- 
tance. Her  ignorance  indeed  was  such,  that  M.  St.  Ger, 
assistant  to  the  imperial  consul  at  Bourdeaux,  who  was 
sent  for  to  Brussels  during  the  prisoner's  examination, 
deposed,  that  while  he  was  her  secretary  at  Bourdeaux, 
she  desired  him  to  sign  a  feigned  name  to  a  letter,  and 
when  he  represented  to  her  that  she  could  not  make  use 
of  a  name  that  was  not  her  own,  she  replied  :  "  Who 
can  prevent  rne?  May  I  not  assume  any  name,  or  signa- 
ture I  please  ?''  —  Nay,  she  even  persisted  in  declaring 
that  she  thought  she  had  acted  right,  and  defended  her 
conduct  on  the  following  grounds.  The  extraordinary 
manner  in  which  she  had  been  brought  up,  the  con- 
jectures she  had  formed  concerning  her  parentage,  the 

portraits 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  347 

portraits  which  gave  such  weight  to  those  conjectures, 
and  the  considerable  sums  that  had  been  remitted  to 
her,  could  not  but  excite  and  confirm  the  suspicion,  that 
she  was,  in  fact,  the  emperor's  daughter.  This  suspicion 
she  had  never  communicated  to  any  one  ;  but  finding 
herself  all  at  once  entirely  forsaken,  she  concluded  that 
the  person  who  had  been  commissioned  to  furnish  her 
with  money  was  dead,  and  that  her  supplies  ceased  only 
because  her  residence  was  not  known,  as  he  alone  mi^ht 

7  CJ 

probably  have  been  acquainted  with  the  place  of  her 
abode.  As  she,  however,  conjectured  that  her  father 
might  have  entrusted  more  than  one  person  with  the 
secret  of  her  birth,  she  hoped,  that,  by  writing  to  all  the 
most  illustrious  servants  of  the  houseof  Austria,  she 
should  meet  with  some  one  acquainted  with  her  history, 
by  whom  she  might  be  placed  in  the  situation  originally 
designed  for  her  by  her  father.  These  letters  she  did  not 
write  in  her  own  name,  because  she  was  unwilling  to  ex- 
pose herself  to  the  troublesome  curiosity  of  those,  who, 
not  being  in  the  secret,  would  immediately  make  enqui- 
ries concerning  her  birth.  She  concluded,  that  if  only 
one  of  these  letters  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  any 
person  acquainted  with  her  history,  that  person  would 
know  more  particulars  of  her  life  than  she  possibly 
could  :  but,  in  the  mean  time,  as  her  suspicions  were 
unsupported  by  positive  proof,  all  she  could  say  would 
not  prevent  her  from  being  considered  an  impostor.  She 
added,  that  a  strong  argument  of  her  conscious  inno- 
cence, and  of  her  firm  persuasion  that  she  was  the  em- 
peror's daughter,  might  be  drawn  from  the  circumstance 
of  her  having  pointed  out  the  place  of  her  abode  in  all 
her  letters  ;  that  all  of  them  tended  to  put  her  in  the 
power  of  the  Court  of  Vienna,  which  alone  was  inte- 
rested in  punishing  a  deception  of  this  kind.  She  de- 
clared that  she  had  never  consulted  any  person  concern- 

Y  Y  2  ing 


348  LOUISA,    OR     LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

ing  the  steps  she  had  taken,  and  particularly  denied  hav- 
ing sent  the  letter  to  the  Duke  de  Richelieu,  signed  "  the 
Princess  of  Auersberg." 

It  should  be  observed,  that  immediately  on  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  letter,  the  duke  returned  an  answer  to  the 
princess,  stating,  "  that  in  consequence  of  her  recom- 
mendation, he  would  treat  Mademoiselle  de  Schonau 
with  all  possible  respect,  and  would  render  her  every 
service  in  his  power."  M.  de  Chatelet,  at  that  time  the 
French  ambassador  at  Vienna,  delivered  this  letter  to  the 
princess,  by  whom  it  was  answered.  Had  she  not 
written  to  the  duke  in  favour  of  the  stranger,  it  is  natu- 
ral to  suppose,  that  she  would  have  immediately  replied, 
she  knew  no  such  person  as  Mademoiselle  de  Schonau, 
Hence  it  may  be  justly  concluded,  that  she  did  write  the 
letter  of  recommendation,  and  was  consequently  ac- 
quainted with  the  mystery  of  the  stranger's  birth.  The 
presumption  is  confirmed  by  the  subsequent  conduct  of 
the  empress,  who  expressly  enjoined  her  ministers  to 
ask  the  Princess  of  Auersberg  no  question  whatever  on 
the  subject. 

The  information  given  by  the  prisoner  concerning  the 
late  Duke  of  York,  is  likewise  of  considerable  impor- 
tance. On  his  arrival  at  Bourdeaux,  his  royal  high- 
ness sent  to  inform  Mademoiselle  de  Schonau,  that  he 
had  something  of  great  consequence  to  communicate  to 
her,  and  requested  her  to  appoint  some  time  when  he 
might  see  her  without  the  knowledge  of  any  other  per- 
son. She  replied,  that  as  he  wished  for  secrecy,  she 
thought  the  most  suitable  hour  would  be  at  six  in  the 
morning,  after  a  ball  that  was  to  be  given  by  the  Duke 
de  Richelieu.  His  royal  highness  came  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  when  he  told  her,  that  the  object  of  his 
visit  was  to  learn  the  amount  of  her  debt?,  as  lie  \va.« 
commanded  by  a  lady  c-f  distinction  to  yivo  her  a  sum 

of 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

of  money.  She  acknowledged  that  her  creditors  impor- 
tuned her  greatly  for  sixty  thousand  livres.  He  desired 
her  to  make  herself  easy,  and  the  same  day  sent  her 
seven  hundred  louis  d'ors  ;  informing  her  that  he  would 
soon  furnish  her  with  a  sum  sufficient  to  discharge  all 
her  debts.  The  next  day  the  duke  left  Bourdeaux". 

Soon  after  this  she  fell  sick  :  one  morning  while  St. 
&er  was  by  her  bed-side,  a  letter  was  brought  from  the 
Duke  of  York,  dated  "  Monaco."  St.  Ger  began  to 
read  as  follows — "  I  was  abont  to  send  you  the  remain- 
der of  the  money  ;  but  after  I  had  left  your  house  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  which  strictly  enjoined  me  to  give  you 

but  a  part.     I  have  written  to  the  Princess  of  Au ." 

Here  she  snatched  the  letter  from  the  hand  of  her  secre- 
tary, and  would  not  suffer  him  to  proceed.  Being 
asked  the  reason  of  her  conduct  on  this  occasion,  and 
who  was  the  princess  mentioned  in  the  letter,  she  re- 
plied, it  was  the  Princess  of  Auersberg,  that  she  herself 
did  not  know  her.  but  the  Duke  of  York  had  told  her, 
that  the  princess  interested  herself  much  in  her  behalf 
and  was  acquainted  with  all  the  secret  of  her  birth. 
When  she  heard  the  first  syllable  of  her  name,  she  was  ap- 
prehensive lest  there  might  be  something  in  the  remain- 
der of  the  letter  more  immediately  concerning  the  prin- 
cess, or  lest  it  might  betray  her  own  story,  with  which  she 
wished  St.  Ger  to  remain  unacquainted. 

She  then  took  from  her  pocket  the  Duke  of  York's 
letter,  which  M.  de  Neny  read  aloud.  The  remainder 
was  as  follows:  ''  I  have  written  to  the  Princess  of  Auers- 
berg, and  have  requested  permission,  at  least  to  remit 
you  the  sum  you  want,  to  relieve  you  from  the  importu- 
nities of  your  creditors,  but — '  Here  the  letter  abruptly 
terminated.  A  few  days  after  she  received  it,  she  was 
informed  of  the  duke's  death.  She  sent  to  the  persons 
appointed  to  examine  hit=  papers,  requesting-  that  her  pic- 
ture 


350  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF   THE    HAY-STACK. 

ture  and  her  letters  might  be  returned.  One  letter  alone 
was  found,  which  was  sent  her,  together  with  the  picture, 
and  a  portrait,  which  she  afterwards  presented  to  M.  de 
Cameiiang. 

Such  was  the  substance  of  the  information  obtained  in 
the  twenty-four  sittings  occupied  by  the  examination. 
The  Counts  Cobenzel  and  Neny,  now  seriously  considered 
what  steps  were  most  proper  to  be  taken,  and  they  agreed 
that  it  would  be  most  prudent  to  place  the  unfortunate 
girl  in  some  convent,  where  she  might  be  kept  till  time 
should  throw  some  light  on  this  mysterious  affair.  At 
the  moment  when  they  were  about  to  transmit  this  opinion 
to  Vienna,  Count  Neny  received  a  letter  from  his  father, 
who  was  private  secretary  to  the  empress,  stating  that 
from  the  particulars  of  the  examination,  her  imperial 
majesty  had  formed  a  very  disadvantageous  idea  of  the 
stranger,  and  was  determined  to  treat  her  with  the 
utmost  severity.  This  information  produced  such  a  change 
in  Count  Neny's  sentiments,  that  he  now  proposed  to 
send  back  the  prisoner  to  Bourdeaux,  and  to  put  her 
into  the  hands  of  her  creditors.  This  advice  was  strongly 
opposed  by  Count  Cobenzel,  who  could  not  be  induced, 
by  any  consideration,  to  abandon  the  sentiments  of  honour 
and  humanity.  He  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  she  should 
be  sent  to  some  convent  in  a  distant  province  of  the 
Austrian  dominions,  and  that  her  effects  at  Bourdeaux 
should  be  sold  to  pay  her  debts.  This  prudent  advice  was 
not  followed,  and  that  of  Count  Neny  was  impracticable. 
The  Duke  de  Choiseul  refused  to  grant  the  passport  ne- 
cessai-y  for  her  removal  to  Bourdeaux.  In  vain  it  was 
urged  that  her  creditors  would  be  injured  ;  the  minister 
considered  this  plea  us  of  no  consequence,  and  persisted 
in  his  refusal. 

Soon   after    this,  Count   Cobenzel  was   attacked   by  an 
illness  which    proved   fatal.      The  day   before   his  death, 

after 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  351 

after  he  had  received  the  sacrament,  he  told  a  friend 
who  had  heen  made  acquainted  with  all  the  circumstances 
relating  to  the  stranger,  that  he  had  just  received  dis- 
patches from  Vienna,  charging  him  to  acquaint  the  court 
with  the  prisoner's  whole  history,  by  no  means  to  dismiss 
her,  and  not  to  take  any  step  without  fresh  orders.  He 
alluded  to  a  letter  he  had  received  from  Prince  Kaunitz, 
which  he  immediately  hurned,  adding,  "  you  see  an  honest 
man's  opinion  will  sometimes  prevail." 

The  following  day  the  count  expired,  and  had  it  not 
been  for  this  event,  the  affair  would  probably  have  ended 
in  a  different  manner.  If  similar  orders  were  sent  to  any 
other  person,  they  were  given  too  late,  for  four  days 
after  the  count's  death,  the  stranger  was  taken  out  of  prison, 
and  conducted  by  a  sub-lieutenant  of  the  Marechaussee 
of  Brabant  to  Quievraing,  a  small  town  between  Mons 
and  Valenciennes,  fifty  louis  d'ors  were  put  into  her  hands, 
and  she  was  abandoned  to  her  destiny. 

The  above  account  was  communicated  to  the  author  by 
the  Count  Coroniny,  nephew  to  Count  Cobenzel,  who 
was  present  at  the  twenty-four  examinations,  of  which  it 
is  a  faithful  abstract,  The  narrative  brings  down  the 
history  of  Mademoiselle  la  Frulen  to  the  year  1769;  if 
we  suppose  her  to  have  been  the  same  person  as  Louisa, 
there  is  a  chasm  of  seven  years  till  her  discovery  near 
Bristol  in  the  year  1776,  which  it  is  more  than  probable 
will  never  be  filled  tip. 

It  has  already  been  stated,  that  Louisa  was  placed  un- 
der the  care  of  Mr.  Henderson,  the  keeper  of  a  private 
mad-house  at  Bitton,  near  Bristol.  We  shall  now  pro- 
ceed to  detail  such  particulars  as  can  be  collected  from 
different  persons  who  visited  her  at  that  place.  They 
contain  so  many  striking  coincidences  with  the  foregoing 
narrative,  as  scarcely  to  leave  a  doubt,  that  the  female 
there  spoken  of  was  the  same  known  afterwards  by  the 

name 


352         LOUISA,  OR  LADY  OF  THE  HAY-STACK. 

name  of  Louisa.  If  this  first  conclusion  be  correct,  a 
second  that  results  from  it  is,  that  in  all  probability 
Louisa  is  a  natural  daughter  of  Francis  I.  emperor  of 
Germany. 

A  gentlewoman,  a  native  of  Altona,  and  wife  to  the 
captain  of  a  Danish  ship,  once  went  to  see  Louisa,  when 
she  was  under  the  hay-stack.  With  her  she  conversed  in 
German,  and  told  her  she  had  lived  at  Sleswick,  and 
had  been  in  a  convent,  from  which  she  had  escaped  with 
her  lover.  This  foreigner,  who  was  a  genteel  well  bred 
woman,  was  by  misfortune  reduced  to  be  a  superintend- 
ing servant  in  the  very  house  where  Louisa  was  confined, 
and  had  the  chief  care  of  her.  Louisa,  remembering 
the  former  confidence  she  had  reposed  in  her,  was  offended 
at  the  sight  of  her,  and  could  never  be  prevailed  upon  to 
renew  the  conversation,  though  she  would  frequently 
speak  short  sentences  to  her  in  German,  particularly  if  she 
wanted  tea,  or  had  any  favour  to  ask. 

She  never  could  be  prevailed  on  to  look  in  a  book. 
Being  once  pressed  to  it,  she  exclaimed,  "No,  read- 
ing is  study,  and  study  makes  me  mad."  Books  were 
often  left  in  her  room,  and  though  she  was  narrowly 
watched,  yet  she  never  was  observed  to  open  any  of  them. 

Louisa  had  a  particular  passion  for  bracelets  and  mi- 
niature pictures,  but  showed  the  most  sovereign  contempt 
for  every  other  ornament.  Of  a  Queen  Anne's  half 
crown,  she  was  extremely  fond;  she 'sometimes  desired 
to  have  one  sewed  on  a  black  ribbon,  said  that  it  much 
resembled  her  mama,  would  wear  it  on  her  arm,  and  kiss 
it  with  great  delight.  After  the  appearance  of  the  trans- 
lation of  the  French  narrative,  more  particular  attention 
was  paid  to  search  her  person  for  the  scars  described  in 
the  account  of  Mademoiselle  la  Friilen.  It  was  found 
that  she  had  a  very  large  one  on  the  lower  part  of 
her  head  behind  her  ear;  she  had  another  on  her 

breast, 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

breast,  which  appeared  to  have  been  occasioned  by  a 
very  considerable  wound,  and  was  suspected  to  have  been 
a  mark  of  violence. 

She  seldom  rose  from  her  bed  of  straw,  on  which  she  lay 
very  quietly,  and  was  perfectly  harmless  and  stupid,  ex- 
cepting when  any  attempt  was  made  to  dress  her,  or  to 
put  her  on  a  comfortable  bed,  when  she  became  quite  out- 
rageous. She  did  not,  however,  require  to  be  treated  with 
harshness,  the  utmost  of  her  violence  amounting  only  to 
short  fits  of  resentment,  on  being  disturbed  from  her  indo- 
lent repose.  She  often  amused  herself  with  shaping  her 
blanket  into  the  imitation  of  a  royal  robe. 

Notwithstanding  the  injuries  which  her  situation  and 
mode  of  life  must  have  occasioned  to  her  looks,  she  had 
still,  at  this  period,  a  very  pleasing  countenance.  It 
was  interesting  likewise  in  a  very  high  degree.  She  had 
fine,  expressive,  black  eyes  and  eye-brows  ;  her  com- 
plexion was  wan,  but  not  sickly;  her  under-jaw  pro- 
jected a  little,  and  some  even  fancied  they  could  dis- 
tinguish something  of  the  Austrian  lip,  but  it  wa?  not 
decidedly  marked.  Her  nose  had  nothing  particular, 
being  neither  aquiline,  nor  retrousst ;  her  hair  was  very 
dark,  if  not  black,  not  thick,  but  coming  down  on  her 
fore-head ;  her  arm  and  hand  were  delicate,  and  her 
fingers  small  and  long. 

On  being  addressed,  says  a  gentleman  who  went  to 
visit  her,  she  raised  her  eyes,  and  having  uttered  a  few 
incoherent  words,  again  composed  herself.  Being  told 
that  we  were  friends  who  had  come  to  see  her,  she 
smiled,  and  moved  her  under-lip  for  some  time  without 
pronouncing  a  word.  This  action,  which  exhibited  more 
of  the  idiot  than  any  other  part  of  her  behaviour,  she  soon 
left  off,  when  we  began  to  draw  her  into  a  kind  of  conver- 
sation. 

"Where  is  papa? — Is  mamma  come  to  take  me  away  ?" — 
Eccentric,    No.    nil.  z  z  were 


354  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

were  the  first  words  she  uttered,  and  were  frequently  re- 
peated during  our  stay.  By  addressing  her  with  kind  fa- 
miliarity, many  replies  were  drawn  from  her,  and  ,-s  a 
seemed  gratified  when  we  joined  in  her  laugh,  which 
under  any  other  circumstances  would  be  esteemed  a  very 
pleasant  one. 

Her  m  mer  of  speaking  English,  though  imperfect, 
could  not  /  absolutely  be  pronounced  to  be  that  of  a 
foreigner,  jut  was  rather  that  of  an  infant,  as  she 
frequently  omitted  the  connecting  particles,  and  used 
childish  epithets. 

We  first  requested  her  to  reach  out  her  hand,  that  this 
kind  of  salutation  might  afford  us  an  opportunity  of  ob- 
serving the  grace  with  which  she  had  been  said  to  move  it. 
Her  manner  of  giving  it  was  attended  with  a  certain  deli- 
cacy, and  we  had  likewise  occasion  to  remark,  that  as  far 
as  her  posture  would  permit,  her  motions  and  attitude  were 
those  of  a  person  of  a  superior  rank  in  life. 

We  found  it  necessary  to  repeat  a  question  several 
times  before  we  could  obtain  an  answer ;  not  because 
she  did  not  comprehend  it,  but  either  from  indifference, 
which  gradually  disappeared,  or  caution  to  avoid  being 
ensnared,  against  which  it  was  evident,  that  in  spite  of  her 
insanity.,  she  was  constantly  endeavouring  to  guard.  At 
times,  however,  when  her  spirits  were  raised,  she  was  led 
into  replies  that  threw  a  faint  light  on  what  she  was  so 
studious  to  conceal.  This  mysterious  conduct,  probably 
at  first  the  effect  of  design,  had  now  become  a  confirmed 
habit. 

Instead  of  giving  a  direct  answer  to  the  questions  that 
were  asked  her,  she  more  usually  talked  of  mamma's 
coming  to  take  her  away,  and  used  other  expressions 
which  we  were  informed  by  those  about  her,  she  was  in 
the  habit  of  uttering.  Some  other  questions,  with  her 
replies,  were  as  follow  : 

We 


LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK.  355 

We  are  your  friends ;  we  are  come  to  take  you  from 
41  is  place  ;  will  you  go  with  us  ? 

fes;  (with  emotion),  but  mamma  must  coire  and  bring 
nij  clothes,  and  I  must  be  dressed  (pointing  towards  her 
neck  and  shoulders,  and  moving  her  fingers  about,  as  if 
describing  the  finery  of  female  dress.) 

We  shall  go  in  a  coach  with  four  horsee  nd  we  will 
make  them  gallop,  and  the  people  shall  adn  '  e  us  as  we 
pass. 

At  this  she  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter,  and  manifested  a 
kind  of  exultation,  as  if  enjoying  the  idea  of  parade. 

And  we  shall  let  all  the  glasses  down. 

No,  that  will  be  too  cold. 

From  this  answer,  and  other  minute  circumstances,  she 
seemed  to  have  a  correct  notion  of  a  carriage,  and  to  have 

O       ' 

been  accustomed  to  one. 

But  where  shall  we  drive  to? 

Home. 

But  where;  to  what  home  ? 

O  !  here  and  there,  backwards  and  forwards,  all  round 
about  (waving  her  hand). 

Shall  we,  Louisa,  (pointedly,)  shall  we  drive  to  Bo- 
hemia ? 

That  is  papa's  own  country. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  this  answer  came  from  her 
in  a  perfectly  fair  and  direct  manner,  after  she  had  been 
talking  and  laughing,  and  when  she  might  be  supposed  to 
be  off  her  guard.  We  joined  in  her  laugh,  and  seized  the 
opportunity  of  asking  other  questions  before  her  spirits 
should  subside,  or  her  weariness  return  ;  but  our  design 
was  not  successful.  Whenever  she  thought  our  enquiries 
impertinent,  she  would  instantly  assume  a  grave,  and  even 
a  sullen  look.  She  talked  much  about  a  sister,  whom  we 
offered  to  call,  and  asked  : 

But  how  shall  we  address  her?  What  is  her  name? 

/  z  2  She 


356  LOUISA,    OR    LADY    OF    THE    HAY-STACK. 

She  will  tell  you  when  she  comes  (with  a  significant 
air.) 

Is  your  sister  like  you,  Louisa  ?  (she  laughed)  If  she  is 
like  you  she  is  very  pretty. 

A  kind  of  blush  overspread  her  cheek,  and  casting 
down  her  eyes  with  a  coquettish  smile,  she  endeavoured  to 
conceal  her  face  in  the  straw  of  her  bed. 

When  we  spoke  to  her  in  French,  she  seemed  to  un- 
derstand that  language ;  at  any  rate,  she  did  not  give 
less  signs  of  intelligence  than  when  addressed  in  English, 
nor  did  her  countenance  express  any  surprise  at  the 
change  of  language.  She  did  not  herself  speak  a  word 
of  French.  I  spoke  a  few  words  in  German,  at  which  she 
burst  into  violent  fits  of  laughter,  as  if  at  my  awkward 
pronunciation  or  misapplication  of  words.  The  same 
effect  was  not  produced  by  any  French  phrase  that  we  ad- 
dressed to  her. 

The  conversation  being  changed  to  the  subject  of  tra- 
velling, I  mentioned  various  towns  in  Europe;  but  with- 
out being  able  to  perceive  that  any  emotion  was  excited  in 
her.  Being  asked  if  she  liked  Brussels,  she  seemed  to 
contract  a  look  of  displeasure  or  disgust,  and  the  same 
was  the  case  when  Brussels  lace  was  mentioned.  I  talked 
about  crossing  the  sea,  and  of  sea-sickness,  on  which  she 
grew  serious  and  reserved,  and  appeared  to  discourage  the 
subject. 

She  frequently  talked  of  dress,  and  seemed  by  her  ac- 
tion to  express  an  expectation  of,  and  a  desire  for  fine 
clothes  ;  but  she  concluded  all  her  broken  sentences  on 
this  subject  with  saying,  "They  must  be  like  this,  and 
the  colour  of  this  ;"  pointing  sometimes  to  the  straw,  and 
sometimes  to  the  blai.ket,  which  lay  loosely  over  her. 

She  applied  the  term  Papa  in  a  vague  and  incoherent 
manner,  sometimes  to  Mr.  Henderson,  and  at  others  to 
some  unknown  person,  to  whose  home  she  talked  of 

sroiujr. 


b 


ACCOUNT   OF    THE   FEMALE    MUD-LARK.  357 

going.  There  was  a  peculiarity  in  her  enunciation,ap- 
proachingto  a  lisp.  Her  voice  was  soft  and  feminine, 
and  I  never  heard  her  loud,  excepting  in  her  fits  of 
laughter.  Her  humours  were  said  to  be  various,  but  to 
us  she  was  good-natured,  and  I  might  almost  say  affable. 
After  the  door  was  locked  on  her,  we  could  hear  her  laugh- 
ing, and  in  spite  of  her  miserable  condition  she  seemed  not 
to  be  unhappy. 

Having  remained  for  a  considerable  time  under  the 
care  of  Mr.  Henderson,  Louisa  was  removed,  as  in  cura- 
ble, to  Guy's  Hospital,  in  the  borough  of  Southwark, 
where  she  continued  to  exhibit  the  same  kind,  and  much 
the  same  degree  of  mental  derangement  to  the  last. 
The  contraction  of  her  limbs  from  exposure  to  cold  in 
the  open  fields,  and  from  her  constant  propensity  to  re- 
main inactive,  rendered  her  an  object  of  the  strongest 
compassion.  During  her  abode  in  the  hospital,  Miss 
Hannah  More  and  her  sisters,  having  lost  the  pecuniary 
assistance  of  most  others,  still  continued  to  supply  the 
extra  wants  andaccotninodations  of  the  poor  solitary 
stranger,  at  the  expence  of  more  than  ten  pounds  per 
annum,  till  her  decease.  This  event  took  place  rather 
suddenly,  after  an  illness  of  some  duration,  on  the  19th 
of  December  1801,  and  on  the  23d  her  remains  were  in- 
terred in  the  ground  belonging  to  the  hospital ;  the  ex- 
pences  of  her  funeral  being  defrayed  by  her  former  be- 
nefactress. 

Account  of  Peygy  Jones,  the  Female  Mud- Lark. 
(With  a  Portrait.} 

JTjLOW  many  hundreds  and  thousands,  in  a  metropolis 
like  that  of  the  British  empire,  obtain  a  subsistence,  in  a 
way  of  which  those  of  its  inhabitants  who  are  not  com- 
pelled to  euch  an  exercise  of  their  ingenuity  car,  have  no 

idea  ! 


358  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    FEMALE     MUD-LARK. 

idea!  In  the  midst  of  a  crowded  city,  man  is  much  more 
closely  cut  off  from  all  assistance  on  the  part  of  his  fellows, 
and  is  obliged  to  trust  entirely  for  the  support  of  life,  to 
the  individual  exertions  of  his  strength,  his  talents,  or  his 
ingenuity. 

This  must  he  more  or  less  the  case  in  every  large  city. 
Here,  says  a  traveller  in  his  account  of  Paris,  poverty 
often  teaches  the  people  the  most  extraordinary  means  of 
getting  a  livelihood.  How  many  are  there  who,  without 
a  penny  of  certain  income,  daily  appear  well  dressed  at 
the  Palais  Royal,  in  the  theatre  and  public  walks, 
and  who  to  judge  from  their  looks,  live  as  free  from 
care  as  the  birds  of  Heaven.  Thus,  for  example,  a  well 
dressed  man,  of  a  respectable  appearance,  who  over  his 
dish  of  chocolate  talks  fluently,  tells  all  kinds  of  amusing 
anecdotes,  and  jokes  with  great  ease  and  freedom,  may 
be  seen  every  day  at  one  of  the  first  coffee-houses  in  the 
city.  And  how  does  he  live?  By  the  sale  of  bills  pasted 
upon  the  walls,  which,  at  night,  when  every  body  else  is 
asleep,  he  tears  from  the  corners  of  the  streets,  and  car- 
ries to  the  pastry-cooks,  from  whom  he  receives  a  few 
KUUS  for  his  trouble.  Pie  then  lies  down  on  his  bundle  of 
straw  in  some  out-house,  and  sleeps  more  soundly  than 
many  a  monarch.  Another  person  who  is  seen  every 
day  in  the  most  public  promenades,  might,  by  his  dress, 
be  taken  for  an  ecclesiastic.  He  is,  however,  a  farmer ; 
but  of  what  kind  ?  He  farms  the  hair-pins  which 
are  left  at  the  Italian  theatre.  When  the  curtain  drops, 
and  the  company  are  leaving  the  house,  he  goes  from 
box  to  box,  seeking  the  pins  which  may  have  fallen,  not 
one  of  which  escapes  his  penetrating  eye  :  and  when  the 
last  candle  is  extinguished,  our  farmer  picks  up  his  last 
pin,  and  relieved  from  the  apprehension  of  dying  the  next 
day  of  hunger,  he  hastens  to  the  broker  to  dispose  of  his 
treasure. 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    FEMALE    MUD-LARK. 

Equally  various,  and  equally  singular  are  the  expe- 
dients practised  by  numbers  in  the  British  capital. 
Amono-  these  the  class  of  Mud-larks  is  not  the  least  ex- 

O 

traordinary.     Many  of  our  readers  may  possibly   be  ig- 
norant that  a   Mud-lark  is  a  person,  who  on  the  ebb  of 
the  tide,   repairs   to  the   river -side,   in  quest  of  any  article 
that   the  water    may  have  left  behind  in  the  mud.     To 
this  description    of    people  belonged  the    subject    of  the 
annexed    engraving.       She    was    a    woman,     apparently 
about  forty  years  of  age,  with  red   hair,    the  particular 
object  of  whose    researches    was   the  coals    which    acci- 
dentally fell  from  the  sides  of    the  lighters.       Her  con- 
stant resort  was  the  neighbourhood  of  Blackfriars,  Avhere 
she  was    always  to    be    seen,    even    before  the  tide  was 
down,  wading  into  the  water,  nearly  up  to  the  middle, 
and  scraping  together  from  the  bottom,  the  coals  which 
she  felt  with  her  feet.     Numbers  of  passengers  who  have 
passed    by  that    quarter,    particularly    over    Blackfriars 
Bridge,  have  often  stopped  to  contemplate  with  astonish- 
ment a    female    engaged    in   an    occupation,    apparently 
so  painful  and  disagreeable.      She  appeared  dressed    in 
very  short    ragged    petticoats,     without   shoes  or    stock- 
ings, and  with    a  kind  of  apronmade    of    some    strong 
substance,  that  folded  like  a  bag  all  round  her,  in  which 
she  collected   whatever    she  was  so  fortunate  as  to  find. 
In  these  strange  habiliments,  and  her  legs  encrusted  with 
mud,  she  traversed  the  streets  of  this  metropolis.      Some- 
times she   was  industrious  enough  to  pick  up  three,   and 
at  others  even  four  loads  a  day  ;   and  as  they  consisted 
entirely  of  what  are  termed  round  coals,  she  never  was  at 
a  loss  for    customers,  whom  she  charged  at  the  rate  of 
eight  pence  a  load.     In  the  collection   of  her  sable   trea- 
sures,   she  was   frequently    assisted   by  the  coal-heavers, 
who  when  she  happened  to  approach  the  lighters,  would, 
as  if  undesignedly,  kick  overboard  a  large  coal,   at  the 

same 


360  ANIMALS,  &C.    IN     THE    HUMAN    STOMACH. 

same  time,  bidding  her,  with  apparent  surliness,  to  go 
about  her  business.  We  are  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  state, 
that  Peggy  Jones  was  not  exempt  from  a  failing  to  which 
most  individuals  of  the  lower  orders  are  subject,  namely, 
inebriety.  Her  propensity  to  liquor  was  sometimes  in- 
dul'^ed  to  such  a  degree,  that  she  would  tumble  about  the 

O  O  * 

streets  with  her  load,  to  the  no  small  amusement  of  mis- 
chievous boys,  and  others,  who,  on  such  occasions, 
never  failed  to  collect  around  her.  After  concluding  the 
labours  of  the  day,  she  retired  to  a  wretched  lodging  in 
Chick  Lane. 

This  woman  carried  on  her  extraordinary  calling  for 
many  years,  but  about  the  month  of  February,  1805, 
she  suddenly  disappeared  from  her  usual  places  of  re- 
sort, and  nobody  can  tell  what  is  become  of  her.  A 
man  who  has  the  appearance  of  a  coal-heaver,  has  since 
stepped  into  her  place,  and  adopted  the  profession  which 
she  so  long  followed. 

Though  the  facts  we  have  been  able  to  procure  con- 
cerning Pegyy  Jones  are  but  scanty,  yet  our  readers  will 
doubtless  approve  of  our  desire  to  perpetuate,  by  means  of 
the  annexed  design,  taken  from  life,  the  memory  of  such 
a  singular  character. 


Extraordinary  Instances  of  Living  Animals  and  other 
Substances  in  the  Human  Stomach. 

X3LBOUT  the  end  of  the  month  of  August  1682,  a  girl  at 
Charenton,  near  Paris,  was  attacked  with  frequent  vo- 
mitings, at  which  times  she  cast  up  spiders,  caterpillars, 
snails,  and  other  insects.  This  phenomenon  made  a 
great  noise  among  the  scientific  men  of  Paris,  and  va- 
rious hypotheses  were  conceived  to  explain  it,  when  a 
civil  officer  resolved  to  institute  a  judicial  examination 
into  the  affair,  and  the  result  of  his  inquiries  was  as  fol- 
lows : 


ANIMALS,  &C.    IN    THE    HUMAN    STOMACH.  361 

lows  :  This  young  woman,  about  eighteen  years  of  age, 
had  for  two  years  and  a  half  been  attacked  with  a  disor- 
der of  the  most  extraordinary  kind.  She  fell  from  time 
to  time  into  such  horrible  convulsions,  that  three  or  four 
very  strong  men  were  required  to  hold  her  in  bed.  These 
convulsions  were  succeeded  by  a  lethargy,  which  lasted 
from  six  or  eight,  to  twenty  hours,  during  which  she 
lost  the  use  of  all  her  senses,  so  that  pins  might  be  thrust 
into  the  fleshy  parts  without  causing  her  any  pain.  It 
was  after  this  lethergy,  that  she  generally  vomited  the 
above  mentioned  insects.  The  officer  in  the  course  of 
his  examination  brought  her  to  acknowledge,  that  for 
seven  or  eight  months  she  had  swallowed  secretly,  and 
in  consequence  of  an  extraordinary  inclination,  caterpil- 
lers,  spiders,  and  other  insects.  For  some  time  she  had 
even  felt  a  longing  to  swallow  toads,  but  had  never  been 
able  to  procure  any.  She  added,  that  these  animals 
were  larger  and  stronger  when  she  cast  them  up,  than 
when  she  swallowed  them. 

A  similar  phenomenon  is  recorded  in  a  letter  from 
Thorn,  in  Polish  Prussia,  to  Dr.  Sachs.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  spring  of  the  year  1667,  a  journeyman 
butcher  carrying  home  some  meat,  was  extremely  thirsty, 
arid  eagerly  drank  off  some  stagnant  water  that  he  found 
by  the  way.  The  same  evening  he  was  attacked  with  pains 
in  his  stomach,  which  grew  worse  every  day.  He  took 
without  effect  a  variety  of  medicines  that  were  recom- 
mended to  him.  He  at  length  imagined  that  he  felt  in 
his  stomach  some  strange  substances,  which  moved  about 
in  it,  particularly  in  the  morning,  and  besides  this  he 
was  affected  with  nausea,  head-ache,  and  restlessness, 
and  frequently  swooned  away.  For  six  months  he  was 
afflicted  in  this  way,  when  he  was  advised  to  take  a  dose 
of  snake's  grease  in  the  morning.  This  he  accordingly 
did,  and  afterwards  going  out  about  his  business,  he  had 

Eccentric,  No.  VIII.  3  A  scarcely 


ANIMALS,  &C.    IN    THE    HUMAN    STOMACH. 

scarcely  quitted  the  house  when  he  was  seized  with  a  vo- 
miting, and  brought  up  three  living  toads;  after  which  he 
soon  recovered  his  health. 

If  it  should  appear  astonishing,  that  this  man  could 
live  so  long  with  these  enemies  in  his  stomach,  it  must 
be  much  more  surprising  to  find,  that  a  person  can  live 
with  a  still  more  dangerous  animal  within  him. 

John  Christian  Frommann,  doctor  of  medicine,  and 
professor  of  philosophy  at  the  college  of  Coburg,  in 
Franconia,  mentions  a  poor  widow  woman,  aged  twenty- 
six  years,  who  lived  out  of  the  town  in  an  unhealthy 
house,  frequented  by  a  great  quantity  of  reptiles.  This 
woman  being  accustomed  to  sleep  with  her  mouth  open, 
a  snake  half  a  yard  long,  and  of  proportionate  thick- 
ness, crept  into  her  stomach.  She  was  attacked  with 
different  complaints,  which  the  author  describes  at 
length  ;  and  by  means  of  various  medicines  which  he 
administered,  he  at  length  succeeded  in  making  her  bring 
it  up,  and  ridding  her  of  such  a  disagreeable  inmate. 

Taberna  Montanus  mentions  the  medicines  he  em- 
ployed to  make  a  man  cast  up  a  salamander,  and  to  bring 
from  a  woman  three  frogs  she  had  swallowed.  Tragus 
likewise  details  those  which  he  used  to  cause  a  child  to 
throw  up  a  snake  that  had  introduced  itself  into  his  sto- 
mach. Fretegius  relates  a  similar  fact,  in  speaking  of  the 
method  by  which  he  relieved  a  child  only  ten  years  old  of 
a  live  toad  that  was  in  his  stomach.  All  these  animals 
had  doubtless  crept  in  at  the  mouth  during  sleep. 

In  the  Ephemerides  of  the  Curious  for  the  year  1675, 
it  is  related,  that  a  shoemaker,  having  for  ten  years  been 
afflicted  with  violent  pains  in  the  abdomen,  without  find- 
ing any  relief  from  the  medicines  that  were  administered 
to  him,  stabbed  himself  in  a  moment  of  despair,  below 
the  stomach,  and  died  of  the  wound.  Preparations 
were  made  for  the  funeral,  and  the  corpse  was  already 

inclosed 


ANIMALS,    &C.    IN    THE    HUMAN     STOMACH.  363 

inclosed  in  the  coffin,  when  a  person  wishing  to  examine 
the  wound,  removed  the  lid,  and  found  beside  the  body  a 
serpent  of  the  length  of  a  man's  arm,  and  as  thick  as  two 
fingers.  It  had  crept  out  of  the  wound,  and  lived  four 
days  afterwards. 

The  length  of  time  which  such  reptiles  are  capable  of 
remaining  inclosed  in  the  human  body,  will  doubtless 
appear  still  more  surprising.  Reinesius  relates,  that  in 
the  spring  of  1647,  a  woman,  named  Catharine  Geilerin, 
about  30  years  of  age,  was  attacked  with  pains  in  the 
abdomen,  accompanied  by  extraordinary  movement?, 
and  a  disgust  of  every  kind  of  liquid  excepting  water 
and  milk,  of  which  she  was  extremely  fond.  Her 
pains  continued  to  increase  till  the  26th  of  June,  when 
she  vomited  four  young  toads  of  the  size  of  humble-bees, 
two  larger  ones,  and  two  lizards  of  the  thickness  of  a  quill, 
and  about  the  length  of  a  finirer.  Reinesius  was  sent 

O  C1 

for  :  he  administered  medicines,  which  considerably  re- 
lieved her,  but  on  the  12th  of  Julr,  she  a£rain  felt  new 

•/    J  O 

pains,  and  new  movements,  on  which  she  discharged 
a  young  live  toad,  and  after  an  interval  of  two  hours 
another  young  one,  and  a  larger,  but  both  dead.  By 
the  administration  of  proper  remedies,  she  recovered  a 
little,  till  on  the  24th  of  March  the  following  year,  she 
again  felt  the  former  symptoms.  On  the  29th,  she  dis- 
charged a  living  frog,  and  three  lizards.  The  fourth  of 
April,  she  vomited  two  living  green  frogs,  and  a  week 
afterwards  discharged  a  large  dead  toad  with  very  sharp 
claws.  The  woman  assured  Dr.  Reinesius,  that  she  had 
been  attacked  by  the  same  complaint  at  the  same  season 
of  the  year,  for  five  years  successively,  and  this  she  at- 
tributed to  her  having  been  so  imprudent,  six  years  be- 
fore, as  to  drink  putrid  water,  full  of  the  spav.n  of 
frogs  and  other  animals.  From  the  period  of  the  last 
mentioned  evacuation,  she  enjoyed  tolerable  health,  and 

3  A  2  in 


3G4  ANIMALS,    &C.    IN    THE    HUMAN    8TOMACH. 

in  1661,  the  doctor  was  informed  that  she  was  living, 
and  able  to  perform  her  work.  She,  however,  remained 
very  weak,  and  had  a  difficulty  of  breathing,  especially  on 
any  violent  exercise.  She  lived  on  bread  soaked  in  milk, 
and  could  drink  nothing  but  water.  She  had  an  invinci- 
ble dislike  to  meat,  and  when  she  tasted  it,  she  experienced 
very  great  agitations  in  her  stomach. 

Instances  are  on  record  of  persons  who  have  swallowed 
knives  and  other  substances,  which  after  a  considerable 
lime,  have  been  extracted  or  discharged  without  endan- 
gering their  lives.  Nothing  in  the  order  of  nature  can 
be  more  wonderful  than  that  they  should  not  instantly 
be  productive  of  the  most  fatal  consequences.  The 
following  facts  would  scarcely  appear  credible,  were 
they  not  attested  in  such  a  manner,  that  their  veracity 
cannot  be  doubted. 

In  a  letter,  dated  London,  March  27th,  1682,  Mr.  Han- 
son relates,  that  a  young  man,  about  twenty  years  of 
age,  at.  Ely,  Cambridgeshire,  who  gave  out  that  he 
was  bewitched,  vomited  at  different  times  nails  of  va- 
rious sizes,  pin?,  small  pieces  of  lead  of  the  kind  used 
by  glaziers,  farthings,  whetstones,  of  the  length  of  a 
finger,  and  the  breadth  of  two.  Mr.  White,  who  saw 
this  man,  says,  that  his  conversation  was  very  sensible, 
that  he  was  not  sick  as  some  imagined,  though  his  counte- 
nance was  extremely  pale,  but  that  he  felt  pains  in  his 
breast,  and  in  other  parts  when  he  vomited  all  these  arti- 
cles. One  day  he  brought  up  a  piece  of  lead  more  than 
two  fingers  in  length,  in  the  presence  of  a  lady  vuth 
whom  he  conversed  in  the  most  rational  manner.  Beino- 

O 

a^ked  why  he  vomited  whetstones  in  preference  to  any 
other,  he  replied,  that  he  did  not  know  ;  all  he  could 
tell  was,  that  a  few  clays  before,  he  had  one  of  those 
stones  in  hi?  pocket,  arid  was  unable  to  recollect  what 
had  become  of  it,  and  th's  stone  he  vomited  afterwards, 

On 


ANIMALS,  &C.    IN    THE    HUMAN    STOMACH.  365 

On  the  22nd  of  March,  one  of  the  king's  surgeons  car- 
ried all  these  different  substances  in  a  box  to  Newmarket, 
to  shew  them  to  the  king:  the  result  of  this  examina- 
tion was,  that  several  women  suspected  of  being  witches 
were  thrown  into  prison.  At  any  rate,  says  a  French 
writer,  those  who  advised  this  measure  were  no  conju- 
rors ;  and  it  was  fortunate  for  the  women  of  England  that 
the  galley-slave  of  Brest  (an  account  of  whom  is  sub- 
joined) died  in  this  country,  and  not  in  theirs,  for  the 
fact  is  still  more  surprising  than  the  preceding. 

A  slave  belonging  to  the  galley  at  Brest,  named  .Andre 
Bazile,  a  native  of  Nantes,  went  into  the  naval  hospital 
the  5th  of  September  1774.  He  complained  of  a  cough, 
of  pains  in  his  stomach,  and  cholic,  for  which  the  phy- 
sician Courcellee,  who  attended  during  that  quarter,  ad- 
ministered medicines  which  seemed  to  relieve  him.  He 
was  still  there  on  the  first  of  October,  when  Fournier, 
another  physician  of  the  hospital,  entered  on  his  quar- 
ter. He  complained  of  vomitings,  which  greatly  ex- 
hausted him,  and  of  pains  in  his  stomach.  Being  una- 
ble to  draw  from  him,  any  circumstances  tending  to  ex- 
plain the  car.se  of  his  malady,  the  physician  adminis- 
tered such  medicines  as  he  judged  suitable  for  his  case. 
On  the  10th  of  the  same  month  he  died,  and  Fournier  sus- 
pecting some  internal  derangement,  desired  that  he  might 
be  opened.  This  operation  was  performed  the  following 
day.  The  stomach  was  found  to  be  greatly  distended, 
and  in  it  were  felt  several  hard  substances.  Fournier 
considering  this  observation  worthy  the  attention  of  his 
colleagues,  suspended  the  operation  till  the  afternoon. — 
However,  as  the  body  was  opened,  he  wished  to  follow 
the  wind-pipe  throughout  its  whole  length,  and  to  come 
at  it,  he  removed  the  heart  and  the  lungs  to  the  opposite 
side.  As  this  \v;ss  not  done  with  sufficient  precaution,  it 
occasioned  a  rupture  of  the  wind-pipe,  about  the  middle, 

by 


366  ANIMALS,  &C.  IN    THE    HUMAN    STOMACH. 

by  which  a  piece  of  wood,  of  a  black  colour,  commencing 
at  the  beginning  of  that  canal,  and  reaching  to  the  sto- 
mach, was  exposed  to  view.  Notwithstanding  the  singula- 
rity of  this  new  discovery,  Fournier  waited  the  arrival 
of  his  colleagues  to  gratify  his  curiosity. 

At  three  in  the  afternoon,  about  fifty  persons,  consist- 
ing of  physicians,  surgeons,  pupils,  and  officers  of  the 
institution  had  assembled.  Having  examined  the  posi- 
tion of  the  parts,  they  proceeded  to  open  the  stomach, 
which  had  the  form  of  an  oblong  square.  The  piece  of 
wood  above-mentioned,  was  first  extracted,  and  proved 
to  be  a  piece  of  hoop,  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and 
one  inch  in  breadth.  To  the  utter  astonishment  of  all 
present,  fifty-two  pieces  of  various  kinds  of  substances 
were  found  in  the  stomach.  Among  these  were  a  knife, 
pewter-spoons,  pieces  of  glass,  iron  and  wood,  from  one  to 
eight  inches  in  length,  nails,  pieces  of  tin,  leather,  horn, 
&c.  &c.  An  inventory  of  all  these  substances  was  drawn 
up  in  the  presence  of  the  spectators,  in  which  the  dimen- 
sions of  each  piece  are  exactly  noted.  The  wind-pipe, 
the  stomach,  and  all  the  intestines  had  become  quite 
black  within;  all  the  substances  had  contracted  the  same 
appearance,  arid  also  an  extremely  fetid  smell,  which  they 
retained  after  they  had  been  repeatedly  washed. 

We  cannot,  says  Fournier,  who  published  this  obser- 
vation, but  regret  the  silence  observed  by  this  unfortu- 
nate man  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  his  malady.  Had 
it  been  possible  to  suspect  it,  I  should  have  endeavoured 
to  obtain  from  him  some  information,  capable  of  throw- 
ing some  light  on  such  an  extraordinary  phenomenon. 
After  his  death,  I  made  all  imaginable  enquiries  con- 
cerning his  character,  constitution,  and  mode  of  life, 
the  result  of  which  was  as  follows  : — Being  of  a  melan- 
choly disposition,  and  even  somewhat  insane,  he  had 
served  thirteen  years  as  a  marine,  but  had  been  dis- 
charged 


ANIMALS,    &C<    IN    THE    HUMAN    STOMACH.  367 

charged  as  deranged  in  his  intellects.  Among  other 
things,  his  comrades  often  persuaded  him  that  he  was 
very  ill.  He  helieved  them,  and  used  on  such  occasions 
to  betake  himself  to  bed.  He  was  at  that  time  accounted 
a  great  eater.  On  his  discharge  he  returned  to  Nantes, 
where  some  time  after,  he  was  condemned  to  the  gallies. 
One  of  his  townsmen,  who  shared  the  same  punishment, 
and  was  imprisoned  with  him,  declared,  that  he  had 
often  seen  him  scrape  the  mortar  and  the  plaister  from 
the  walls  of  his  prison,  and  put  it  in  great  quantities  into 
his  soup,  saying,  that  it  strengthened  him,  and  gave  him 
spirits.  Sometimes,  according  to  this  same  person's  ac- 
count, he  had  a  voracious  appetite,  which  was  announced 
by  an  abundant  salivation,  and  at  such  times,  he  ate 
as  much  as  would  satisfy  four  men;  but  when  he  had 
nothing  to  appease  this  appetite,  as  was  frequently  the 
case,  because  he  was  so  passionately  fond  of  tobacco,  that 
he  often  sold  his  allowance  to  procure  it,  he  swallowed 
stones,  buttons  from  his  clothes,  pieces  of  leather,  and 
other  small  substances.  Having  likewise  interrogated 
those  who  rowed  with  him  on  the  same  bench  in  the  galley, 
they  informed  me  that  two  days  before  he  went  into  the 
hospital,  they  had  seen  him  swallow  two  pieces  of  wood, 
four  or  five  inches  in  length.  Notwithstanding  all  my  en- 
quiries, I  could  not,  however,  learn  when  he  swallowed  the 
enormous  piece  of  hoop  of  the  length  of  eighteen  inches. 
After  he  went  into  the  hospital,  he  took  very  little  solid 
food,  which  is  not  surprising  when  we  consider  the  multi- 
tude of  strange  substances  with  which  his  stomach  and 
wind-pipe  were  rilled.  One  of  the  female  attendants  recol- 
lected to  have  heard  him  say,  that  "  he  had  a  thousand 

d d  things  in  his  belly,  which  would  kill  him,"   but  as 

he  was  looked  upon  as  mad,  very  little  attention  was  paid 
to  this  expression.  In  all  probability  his  digestive  juices 
were  vitiated  by  some  cause  or  other,  and  occasioned  at 

intervals, 


368  ANIMALS,  &C.    IN    THE    HUMAN    STOMACH. 

intervals,  that  extraordinary  hunger;  and  having  nothing 
to  appease  it,  he  swallowed  every  thing  that  came  in  his 
way. 

It  appears  that  he  had  contracted  this  hahit  hy  degrees, 
that  he  had  at  first  accustomed  himself  to  swallow 
small  bodies  which  passed  hy  the  ordinary  way,  and 
unfortunately  persuaded  himself,  that  larger  would  do  the 
same.  Though  it  is  extremely  easy  to  demonstrate,  that 
the  complaints  with  which  he  was  afflicted  were  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  what  was  discovered  after  his 'death, 
it  is  just  as  impossible  to  conceive  and  explain,  why 
the  symptoms  he  experienced  were  not  much  more  acute, 
alarming  and  decided  ;  and  in  particular,  how  he  could 
possibly  swallow  a  piece  of  wood,  eighteen  inches  long, 
without  any  rupture  of  the  pharynx  and  wind- pipe,  arid 
without  choaking  himself.  It  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt 
to  account,  by  reasonings,  for  a  fact  so  wonderful  and  in- 
comprehensible. 

We  shall  conclude  these  observations,  with  a  pheno- 
menon less  striking  than  the  preceding;  but  which  like- 
wise overthrows  the  most  firmly  established  theories. 
Every  one  knows  that  verdigris  is  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful poisons  with  which  we  are  acquainted  ;  that  when 
taken  in  very  small  quantities,  it  sometimes  occasions 
the  most  fatal  accidents,  unless  immediate  assistance  be 
obtained.  From  the  fact  we  are  about  to  relate,  which 
is  extracted  from  the  memoirs  of  the  academy  of  Co- 
penhagen, it  however  appears,  that  a  quantity  of  this 
substance  remained  for  a  considerable  time  in  the  sto- 
mach of  a  man  without  producing  any  sensible  inconve- 
nience.— A  poor  day-labourer  having  put  into  his  mouth 
two  small  pieces  of  copper  coin  which  he  had  just  re- 
ceived, one  of  the  pieces  accidentally  slipped  down  his 
throat.  It  remained  a  long  time  in  the  middle  of  the 
wind-pipe,  where  it  occasioned  violent  pains,  with  spit- 
tins: 


MEN    FOUND    IN    A    SAVAGE    STATE,  369 

ting  of  blood,  and  a  great  difficulty  of  swallowing  solid 
food.  About  a  month  afterward?,  it  dropped  down  into 
the  stomach,  whence  it  caused  no  farther  inconvenience. 
Half  a  year  after  this,  being  at  work,  he  was  seized  with,  a 
vomiting,  and  brought  up  the  piece  of  money,  covered  with 
a  coat  of  verdigris,  in  which  state  it  was  exhibited  to  the 
academy. 


Account  of  Men  found  in  a  Savage  State,  with  interesting 
Particulars  concerning  Peter  the  Wild  Boy. 

N  compliance  with  the  promise  made  to  the  reader  in 
our  last  number,  we  shall  now  present  him  with  an  ac- 
count of  all  those  savages  or  wild  men,  concerning  whom 
any  authentic  particulars  are  recorded. 

In  1334,  a  child  was  found  near  Cassel,  who  had  been 
long  supported  by  wolves,  and  who  afterwards  declared 
at  the  court  of  Prince  Henry,  that,  if  he  might  follow 
his  own  inclination,  he  would  rather  return  to  his  former 
companions  than  live  among  men.  He  was  so  habituated 
to  run  on  all-four,  like  animals,  that  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  fasten  to  his  body  pieces  of  wood  to  keep  him  up- 
right. 

In  1G94,  another  young  savage  was  found  in  Lithuania, 
who  lived  among  bears.  He  manifested  no  signs  of  rea- 
son, walked  on  his  hands  and  feet,  could  not  speak,  but 
uttered  sounds  which  had  no  resemblance  to  those  arti- 
culated by  man.  Some  years  afterwards  he  was  brought 
to  the  English  court,  at  which  time  he  still  experienced 
a  great  difficulty  to  keep  himself  erect,  and  to  walk  like 
other  men. 

In  1719,  two  savages  were  discovered  and  pursued  by 
some  persons  travelling  over  the  Pyrenees.  They  ran 
over  those  mountains  in  the  manner  of  quadrupeds. 

Eccentric,  No,   VIII,  3  B  In 


070  MEN    FOUND    IN    A    SAVAGE    STATE. 

In  1731,  a  girl  was  caught  in  the  environs  of  Chalons 
sur  Marne,  in  France,  and  educated  in  a  convent,  under 
the  name  of  Mademoiselle  Lehlanc.  This  female  ac- 
quired the  faculty  of  speech,  and  related  that  she  had 
lived  in  the  woods  with  a  companion,  whom  she  one  day 
unfortunately  killed  by  a  violent  blow  on  the  head,  in  a 
dispute  concerning  the  exclusive  possession  of  a  chaplet 
which  they  accidentally  found. 

In  1767,  some  inhabitants  of  Frauenmark,  in  the 
county  of  Honterser,  having  gone  out  to  hunt  bears,  con- 
tinued the  pursuit  of  one  of  those  animals  of  extraordi- 
nary size,  till  they  had  advanced  into  the  most  seques- 
tered part  of  the  mountains,  whither,  it  was  probable,  no 
human  being  had  ever  penetrated.  They  were  astonished 
on  perceiving  in  the  snow,  the  steps  of  a  human  foot ; 
and  having  followed  them,  they  discovered  in  a  cave,  a 
female  savage,  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  perfectly 
naked  ;  she  was  plump  and  robust,  and  her  skin  very 
brown.  They  were  obliged  to  employ  force  to  drag  her 
from  her  retreat.  She,  however,  uttered  no  cry,  nor  did 
she  shed  a  tear,  and  at  length  suffered  herself  to  be  car- 
ried off  quietly.  They  took  her  to  Calpen,  a  small  town 
in  the  county  of  Astol,  where  she  was  placed  in  the  hos- 
pital. Various  kinds  of  meat  that  had  been  dressed,  were 
offered  her  to  no  purpose,  but  she  tore,  and  devoured  with 
avidity  raw  flesh,  the  bark  of  trees,  and  different  roots.  It 
was  impossible  to  obtain  information  how  she  had  been 
abandoned  in  those  inaccessible  forests,  and  how  she  had 
been  able  to  defend  herself  against  the  animals  by  which 
they  are  inhabited. 

In  the  month  of  November  1725,  a  boy  was  brought 
to  Hanover  by  the  superintendant  of  the  house  of  cor- 
rection at  Zell,  who  was  supposed  to  be  about  13  years 
of  age,  and  was  found  some  time  before  in  a  wood  near 
Hameln,  about  25  miles  distant  from  Hanover,  walking 

on 


MEN    FOUND    IN    A    SAVAGE    STATE.  371 

on  his  hands  and  feet,  climbing  tress  like  a  squirrel,  and 
feeding  on  grass  and  moss.  He  could  not  speak.  This 
singular  creature  was  presented  to  king  George  I.  then  at 
Hanover,  while  at  dinner.  The  king  caused  him  to  taste 
of  ali  the  dishes  at  the  table  ;  and  in  order  to  bring  him 
by  degrees  to  relish  human  diet,  he  directed  that  he 
should  have  such  provision  as  he  seemed  best  to  like,  and 
such  instruction  as  might  best  fit  him  for  human  society. 

Soon  after  this,  the  boy  made  his  escape  into  the  same 
wood,  where  he  concealed  himself  among  the  branches 
of  a  tree,  which  was  sawed  down  to  recover  him.  He  was 
brought  over  to  England  at  the  beginning  of  1726,  and 
exhibited  to  the  king  and  many  of  the  nobility.  In  this 
country  he  was  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  Peter 
the  Wild  Boy,  which  he  ever  after  retained. 

He  appeared  to  have  scarcely  any  ideas,  was  uneasy 
at  being  obliged  to  wear  clothes,  and  could  not  be  in- 
duced to  lie  on  a  bed,  but  sat  and  slept  in  a  corner  of  the 
room,  whence  it  was  conjectured  that  he  used  to  sleep 
on  a  tree  for  security  against  wild  beasts.  He  was  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  Dr.  Arbuthnot,  at  whose  house  he 
either  was,  or  was  to  have  been  baptized ;  but  notwith. 
standing  all  the  doctor's  pains,  he  never  could  bring  the 
wild  youth  to  the  use  of  speech,  or  the  pronunciation  of 
words.  As  every  effort  of  this  kind  was  found  to  be  in 
vain,  he  was  placed  with  a  farmer  at  a  small  distance  from 
town,  and  a  pension  was  allowed  him  by  the  king,  which 
he  enjoyed  till  his  death. 

The  ill  success  of  these  efforts  seems  to  have  laid  curi- 
osity asleep,  till  Lord  Monboddo  again  called  the  pub- 
iic  attention  to  this  phenomenon.  That  nobleman^had 
been  collecting  all  the  particulars  he  could  meet  with 
concerning  Peter,  in  order  to  establish  a  favourite  hy- 
pothesis, and  went  himself  to  see  him,  and  the  follou-- 

3  B  2  ino- 


372  MEN    FOUND    IN    A    SAVAGE    STATE. 

ing  is  the  account  he  gives  of  him  in  his  ancient  meta- 
physics. 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  June  1782,  that  I  saw  him 
in  a  farm-house  called  Broadway,  about  a  mile  from 
Berkhamstead,  kept  there  on  a  pension  of  thirty  pounds, 
which  the  king  pays.  He  is  but  of  low  stature,  not  ex- 
ceeding five  feet  three  inches,  and  though  he  must  now 

o  *  o 

be  about  seventy    years  of   age,  he  has  a  fresh,  healthy 
look.     He  wears  his  beard ;  his  face  is  not  at  all  ugly  or 
disagreeable,  and  he  has  a  look  that  may  be  called  sen- 
sible or  sagacious  for  a  savage.     About  twenty  years  ago 
he  used  to  elope,  and  once,  as  I  was  told,  he  wandered 
as  far  as  Norfolk  ;  but  of  late  he  has  become  quite  tame, 
and  either  keeps  the  house,  or  saunters  about  the  farm. 
He  has  been  during  the  last  thirteen  years,  where  he 
lives  at  present,  and  before  that  he  was  twelve  years  with 
another  farmer,  whom  I  saw,  and  conversed  with.     This 
farmer  told  me  he  had  been  put  to  school  somewhere  in 
Hertfordshire,  but  had  only  learned  to  articulate  his  own 
name  Peter,  and  the  name  of  King  George,  both  which 
I  heard  him  pronounce  very  distinctly.     But  the  woman 
of  the  house  where  he  now  is,  for  the  man  happened  not 
to  be  at  home,  told  me  that  he  understood  every  thing 
that  was  said  to  him,  concerning  the   common  affairs  of 
life,  and  I  saw  that  he   readily  understood  several   things 
she    said    to    him   while    I    was    present.     Among  other 
things,  she  desired  him  to   sing  Nancy  Dawson,  which  he 
accordingly  did,  and  another  tune  that  she  named.     He 
was  never  mischievous,  but  had  that  gentleness  of  man- 
ners, which  I  hold  to  be  characteristic  of  our  nature,  at 
least  till  we   become    carnivorous,  and  hunters   or  war- 
riors.    He  feeds  at  present  as  the  farmer  and  his  wife  do, 
but,  as  I  was  told  by  an  old  woman,  who  remembered  to 
have  seen    him  when    he    first    came    to    Hertfordshire, 
which  she  computed  to   be   about  fifty-five  years  before; 

he 


MEN  FOUND  IN  A  SAVAGE  STATE. 

he  then  fed  much  on  leaves,  particularly  of  cabbage, 
which  she  saw  him  eat  raw.  He  was  then,  as  she  thought, 
about  fifteen  years  of  age,  walked  upright,  but  could 
climb  trees  like  a  squirrel.  At  present  he  not  only  eats 
ilesh,  but  has  likewise  acquired  a  taste  for  beer,  and  even 
for  spirits,  of  which  he  inclines  to  drink  more  than  he 
can  get.  The  old  farmer  with  whom  he  lived  before  he 
came  to  his  present  situation,  informed  me,  that  Peter 
had  that  taste  before  he  came  to  him.  He  is  also  become 
very  fond  of  fire,  but  has  not  acquired  a  liking  for  mo- 
ney ;  for  though  he  takes  it,  he  does  not  keep  it,  but 
gives  it  to  his  landlord  or  landlady,  which  I  suppose  is  a 
lesson  they  have  taught  him.  He  retains  so  much  of  his 
natural  instinct,  that  he  has  a  fore-feeling  of  bad  weather, 
growling  and  howling,  and  shewing  great  disorder  before 
it  comes  on. 

His  lordship  afterwards  requested  Mr.  Burgess  of  Ox- 
ford, to  make  farther  enquiries  for  him  on  the  spot,  con- 
cerning Peter,  and  that  gentleman  transmitted  him  the 
following  particulars: 

Peter,  in  his  youth,  was  very  remarkable  for  his 
strength,  which  always  appeared  so  much  superior,  that 
the  stoutest  young  men  were  afraid  to  contend  with  him. 
His  vigour  continued  almost  unimpaired  till  about  a  year 
and  a  half  ago,  when  he  was  suddenly  taken  ill,  fell 
down  before  the  fire,  and  for  a  time  lost  the  use  of  his 
right  side.  I  met  with  an  old  gentleman,  a  surgeon  of 
Hempstead,  who  remembers  to  have  seen  Peter  in  Lon- 
don, between  the  years  1724,  and  1726.  He  told  me, 
when  he  first  came  to  England,  he  was  particularly  fond 
of  raw  flesh  and  bones,  and  was  always  dressed  in  fine 
clothes,  of  which  Peter  seemed  not  a  little  proud.  He 
still  retains  his  passion  for  finery ;  and  if  any  person  has 
any  thing  smooth  or  shining  in  his  dress,  it  soon  attracts 
llie  notice  of  Peter,  who  shews  his  attention  by  stroking 

it. 


374         MEN  FOUND  IN  A  SAVAGE  STATE. 

it.  He  is  not  a  great  eater,  and  is  fond  of  water,  of 
which  he  will  drink  several  draughts  immediately  after 
breakfasting  on  tea,  or  even  milk.  He  would  not  drink 
beer  till  lately,  but  he  is  fond  of  all  kinds  of  spirits, 
particularly  gin,  and  likewise  of  onions,  which  he  will  eat 
like  apples.  He  does  not  often  go  out  without  his  master, 
but  he  will  sometimes  go  to  Berkhamstead,  and  call  at  the 
gin-shop,  where  the  people  know  his  errand,  and  treat 
him.  Gin  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  means  to  persuade 
him  to  do  any  thing  with  alacrity ;  hold  up  a  glass  of  that 
liquor,  and  he  will  not  fail  to  smile,  and  raise  his  voice. 
He  cannot  bear  the  sight  of  an  apothecary  who  once  at- 
tended him,  nor  the  taste  of  physic,  which  he  will  not 
take,  but  under  some  great  disguise. 

If  he  hears  any  music,  he  will  clap  his  hands,  and 
throw  his  head  about  in  a  wild,  frantic  manner.  He 
has  a  very  quick  sense  of  music,  and  will  often  re- 
peat a  tune  after  once  hearing.  When  he  has  heard  a 
tune  which  is  difficult,  he  continues  humming  it  a  long 
time,  and  is  not  easy  till  he  is  master  of  it.  He  under- 
stands every  thing  that  is  said  to  him  by  his  master  and 
mistress :  while  I  was  with  him,  the  farmer  asked 
several  questions,  which  he  answered  rapidly,  and  not 
very  distinctly,  but  sufficiently  so  to  be  understood  even 
by  a  stranger  to  his  manner.  Some  of  the  questions  and 
answers  were  as  follows : — Who  is  your  father  ?  King 
George. — What  is  your  name  ?  Pe — ter,  pronouncing 
the  two  syllables  with  a  short  interval  between  them — 
AYhat  is  that  ?  Bow-wow  (the  dog.)— What  horse  will  you 
ride  upon  ?  Cuckovv.  This  is  not  the  name  of  any  of 
their  horses,  but  it  is  his  constant  reply  to  that  question  ; 
so  that  it  may  probably  have  been  the  name  of  one  of 
the  horses  belonging  to  his  former  master.  His  answers 
never  exceed  two  words,  and  he  never  says  any  thing 
of  his  own  accord,  lie  has  likewise  been  taught  when 

asked 


MEN    FOUND    IN    A    SAVAGE    STATE.  375 

asked  the  question — What  are  you  ?  to  reply,  Wild  Man. 
Where  were  you  found?  Hanover  —  Who  found  you  ? 
King  George.  If  he  is  desired  to  tell  twenty,  he  will 
count  the  number  exactly  on  his  fingers,  with  an  indistinct 
sound  at  each  number  ;  but  after  another  person,  he  will 
say  one,  two,  three,  &c.  pretty  distinctly. 

Till  the  spring  of  1782,  which  was  soon  after  his  ill- 
ness, he  always  appeared  remarkably  animated  by  the 
influence  of  the  spring,  singing  all  day;  and  if  it 
was  clear,  half  the  night.  He  is  much  pleased  at  the 
sight  of  the  moon  and  stars  ;  he  will  sometimes  stand 
out  in  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  with  his  face  turned  up 
towards  it  in  a  strained  attitude,  and  he  likes  to  be  out  in 
a  starry  night,  if  not  cold.  These  particulars  naturally 
lead  to  the  enquiry  whether  he  has,  or  seems  to  have 
any  idea  of  the  great  author  of  all  these  wonders.  I 
thought  this  a  question  of  so  much  curiosity,  that  when 
I  had  left  Broadway,  I  rode  back  several  miles  to  ask 
whether  he  had  ever  betrayed  any  sense  of  a  Supreme 
Being.  I  was  told,  that  when  he  first  came  into  that  part 
of  the  country,  different  methods  were  taken  to  teach  him 
to  read,  and  to  instruct  him  in  the  principles  of  religion, 
but  in  vain.  He  learned  nothing,  nor  did  he  ever  shew 
any  feeling  of  the  consciousness  of  a  God. 

He  is  very  fond  of  fire,  and  often  brings  in  fuel,  which 
he  would  heap  up  as  high  as  the  fire-place  would  contain 
it,  were  he  not  prevented  by  his  master.  He  will  sit  in 
the  chimney  corner,  even  in  summer,  while  they  are 
brewing  with  a  very  large  fire  sufficient  to  make  another 
person  faint  who  sits  there  long.  He  will  often  amuse 
himself  by  setting  five  or  six  chairs  before  the  fire,  and 
seating  himself  on  each  of  them  by  turns,  as  the  love  of 
variety  prompts  him  to  change  his  place. 

He  is  extremely  good-tempered,  excepting  in  cold 
and  gloomy  weather,  for  he  is  very  sensible  of  the 

change 


376  MEN    FOUND    IN    A    SAVAGE    STATE. 

change  of  the  atmosphere.  He  is  not  easily  provoked, 
but  when  made  angry  by  any  person,  he  would  run  after 
him,  making  a  strange  noise,  with  his  teeth  fixed  into 
the  back  of  his  hand.  I  could  not  find  that  he  ever  did 
any  violence  in  the  house,  excepting  when  he  first  came 
over,  he  would  sometimes  tear  his  bed-clothes,  to  which 
it  was  long  before  he  was  reconciled.  He  has  never,  at 
least  since  his  present  master  has  known  him,  shewn  any 
attention  to  women,  and  I  am  informed,  that  he  never 
did,  except  when  purposely  or  jocosely,  forced  into  an 
amour. 

He  ran  away  several  times  since  he  was  at  Broadway, 
but  never  since  he  has  been  with  his  present  master.  In 
1745,  or  1746,  he  was  taken  up  as  a  spy  from  Scotland  ; 
as  be  was  unable  to  speak,  the  people  supposed  him  obsti- 
nate, and  threatened  him  with  punishment  for  his  contu- 
macy ;  but  a  lady  who  had  seen  him  in  London,  acquainted 
them  with  the  characterof  their  prisoner,and  directed  them 
where  to  send  him.  In  these  excursions  he  used  to  live  on 
raw  herbage,  berries,  and  young  tender  roots  of  trees. 

Of  the  people  who  are  about  him,  he  is  particularly  at- 
tached to  his  master.  He  will  often  go  cut  into  the  field 
with  him  and  his  men,  and  seems  pleased  to  be  employed 
in  any  thing  that  can  assist  them.  But  he  must  always 
have  some  person  to  direct  his  actions,  as  you  may  judge 
from  the  following  circumstance.  Peter  was  one  day  en- 
gaged with  his  master  in  filling  a  dung-cart.  His  master 
had  occasion  to  go  into  the  house,  and  left  Peter  to  finish 
the  work,  which  he  soon  accomplished.  But  as  Peter 
must  be  employed,  he  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  not  be 
as  usefully  occupied  in  emptying  the  cart  as  he  had  before 
been  in  filling  it.  On  his  master's  return  he  found  the 
cart  nearly  emptied  again,  and  learned  a  lesson  by  it  which 
he  never  afterwards  neglected. 

To  these  accounts  we  have  nothing  farther  to  add,  than 

that 


MISCELLANEOUS  GLEANINGS.  377 

that  Peter  did  not  long  survive  the  visits  of  Lord  Mon- 
boddo  and  his  friend.  He  died  at  the  farm  in  the  month 
of  February  1786,  at  the  supposed  age  of  73  years. 


MISCELLANEOUS  GLEANINGS. 

No.  IV. 
Longevity. 

JLJLBOUT  the  beginning  of  the  year  1805,  died  at  Jamaica, 
Mrs.  Mills,  aged  118;  she  was  followed  to  her  grave  by 
295  of  her  children,  grand-children,  great  grand-chil- 
dren, and  great  great  grand-children,  sixty  of  whom, 
named  Ebanks,  belong  to  the  regiment  of  militia  for  St. 
Elizabeth's  parish.  For  ninety-seven  years  she  practised 
midwifery,  during  which  period,  it  is  stated,  that  she 
ushered  one  hundred  and  forty-three  thousand  persons 
into  the  world !  She  retained  her  senses  to  the  last,  and 
followed  her  business  till  within  two  days  of  her  death. 

A  very  extraordinary  instance  of  longevity  is  recorded 
in  the  German  journals. — A  man  is  now  (1805)  living  at 
Posen,  in  Poland,  who  is  in  his  138th  year  ;  he  was  born 
at  Oleczow,  in  1667,  of  poor  parents,  and  was  unmarried 
till  he  was  sixty  years  of  age  ;  ten  years  after  his  wife  bore 
twins,  a  boy  and  a  girl ;  he  lived  thirty  years  with  his 
wife,  and  some  time  after  her  death  married  a  second 
wife,  named  Borowski,  who  died  in  the  course  of  ten 
years  ;  he  has  been  eighteen  years  a  widower.  His  name 
is  James  Malinowski.  He  remembers  John  Sobieski, 
king  of  Poland,  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  and  Peter  the 
Great,  Emperor  of  Russia. 

.Extraordinary    Memory. 

William   Lyon,  an  itinerant  actor,  who    died  at  Edin- 
burgh about   the  year  1748,  possessed   a  most  astonishing 
Eccentric,  No.  V1IL  3  c  memory. 


378  MISCELLANEOUS    GLEANINGS. 

memory.  One  evening  over  a  bottle,  he  laid  a  wager, 
that  the  next  morning  at  the  rehearsal,  he  would  repeat 
the  whole  of  the  contents  of  a  Daily  Advertiser,  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end.  At  the  rehearsal  his  opponent 
reminded  him  of  the  wager,  imagining  that,  as  he  was 
intoxicated  the  preceding  night,  he  must  certainly  have 
forgotten  the  circumstance,  and  rallied  him  for  boasting 
of  his  memory.  Lyon,  taking  the  paper  from  his  pocket, 
desired  the  other  to  decide  whether  he  did  or  did  not  win 
the  wager.  Notwithstanding  the  want  of  connection  of 
the  paragraphs,  the  number  and  variety  of  advertise- 
ments, and  the  heterogeneous  mass  of  matter  which  en- 
ters into  the  composition  of  every  newspaper,  he  re- 
peated it  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  without  making  a 
mistake. 

Singular  Death. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hagemore.  who  lived  at  Calthorn,  in 
Leicestershire,  kept  one  servant  of  each  sex,  whom  he 
locked  up  every  night.  His  last  employment  in  the 
evening  was  to  go  round  his  premises,  let  loose  his  dogs, 
and  fire  his  gun.  Going  on  the  morning  of  the  1st 
January,  1746,  as  usual  to  release  his  servants,  one  of  his 
dogs  suddenly  fawned  upon  him,  and  threw  him  into  a 
pond,  where  the  water  was  breast  high.  His  servants 
heard  him  call  for  assistance,  but  being  unable  to  quit 
their  prisons,  he  was  drowned.  At  the  time  of  his  death, 
he  had  thirty  gowns  and  cassocks,  fifty-eight  dogs,  one 
hundred  pair  of  breeches,  one  hundred  pair  of  boots, 
four  hundred  pair  of  shoes,  eighty  wigs,  though  he  al- 
ways wore  his  own  hair,  eighty  waggons  and  carts,  eighty 
ploughs,  and  used  none,  fifty  saddles,  and  furniture  for 
the  menage,  thirty  wheelbarrows,  and  so  many  walking- 
sticks,  that  a  toy-man  in  Leicester  Fields  offered  eight 
pounds  for  them.  He  had  about  sixty  horsea  and  mares, 

three 


Ao'rd     »r». 
r 


ACCOUNT   OF    LORD    ROKEBY.  379 

three  hundred  pick-axes,  two  hundred  spades  and  shovels, 
twenty-five  ladders,  and  two  hundred  and  forty  razors. 


Account  of  the  Life  and  Eccentric  Habits  of  the  late 

Matthew  Robinson,  Lord  Hoke'by. 

(With  a  Portrait.) 

JL  HE  extraordinary  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born 
about  the  year  1712,  near  Hythe  in  Kent.  His  father 
Sir  Septimus  Robinson,  was  gentleman  usher  to  George 
II.  He  sent  his  son  at  the  usual  age  to  Westminster 
School,  from  which  seminary  he,  in  due  time,  removed 
to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  Here  he  remained  seve- 
ral years,  applying  to  his  studies  with  diligence,  and  ac- 
quitting himself  with  ability.  As  a  proof  of  his  progress, 
he  was  elected  to  a  fellowship,  which  he  retained  till  his 
death.  The  taste  which  he  acquired  for  literature  in  his 
early  years,  never  forsook  him;  his  library  was  large  and 
well-chosen,  and  he  could  refer  to  the  contents  of  its 
volumes  with  wonderful  facility. 

Having  completed  his  education,  Mr.  Robinson  went 
to  Aix  la  Chapelle,  a  place  distinguished  for  its  baths, 
and  at  that  time  the  resort  of  people  of  fashion  for  all 
nations.  Here  he  passed  a  considerable  time,  indulging 
himself  in  every  species  of  gaiety. 

On  the  death  of  his  father  in  1754,  he  succeeded  to 
his  estate  in  East  Kent,  and  lived  at  his  mansion  there  in 
all  the  easy  affluence,  hospitality,  and  splendour,  which 
characterized  the  old  English  gentry.  During  the  winter 
a  portion  of  his  time  was  spent  in  the  capital,  and  he  was 
accustomed  to  pass  a  part  of  the  summer  at  Sandgate  Cas- 
tle, where  he  could  enjoy  sea-bathing,  to  which  he  was 
much  addicted,  in  great  perfection. 

In  consequence  of  his  vicinity  to  Canterbury,  and  a 
family  connection  with  that  place,  he  had  many  oppor- 

3  c  2  tunities 


380  ACCOUNT    OF    LORD    KOKEBV. 

tunities  of  cultivating  an  intimacy  with  its  principal  in- 
habitants, who,  charmed  with  the  integrity,  ability  and 
independent  principles  he  manifested,  chose  him  to  re- 
present them  in  Parliament.  A  better  choice  the  electors 
could  not  have  made  :  he  continued  for  a  long  series 
of  years  most  faithfully  to  discharge  all  the  important 
duties  annexed  to  his  situation.  During  the  American 
war,  he  remonstrated  with  peculiar  energy  against  the 
measures  pursued  by  the  mother-country.  Not  content 
with  opposing  administration  in  the  senate,  he  likewise 
exerted  the  powers  of  his  pen,  and  produced  a  pamphlet 
on  the  subject,  pregnant  with  sound  sense,  manly  argument, 
and  liberal  sentiment. 

About  the  conclusion  of  that  unhappy  conflict,  Mr. 
Robinson  resigned  his  parliamentary  duties.  His  bodily 
infirmities  probably  contributed  to  this  step.  He  had 
from  his  youth  been  subject  to  much  severe  illness,  and 
his  hearing  and  sight  were  considerably  affected.  Im- 
pressed with  the  sense  of  the  impropriety  of  any  longer 
occupying  a  seat  in  Parliament,  when  he  could  neither 
discharge  its  duties  with  fidelity  to  his  constituents,  nor 
with  satisfaction  to  himself,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Canterbury,  in  which  he  took  an  affec- 
tionate leave  of  them  ;  and  he  is  reported  to  have  said  to 
one  of  the  principal  citizens,  "that  they  ought  to  choose 
as  his  successor,  a  younger  and  more  vigorous  man  ;  one 
who  had  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  and  lungs  to  oppose  the 
tricks  of  future  ministers." 

From  this  period  he  led  the  life  of  a  private  gentle- 
man, and  indulged  himself  in  the  gratification  of  those 
eccentric  whims  for  which  he  was  afterwards  so  distin- 
guished, lie  constantly  resided  at  his  seat  at  Mount- 
Morris,  where  he  lived  without  ostentation,  and  without 
meanness.  He  planted,  improved,  and  embellished. 
His  house  was  open  to  respectable  strangers,  and  he 

was 


ACCOUNT    OF    LORD    ROKEBY,  381 

was  much  visited  on  account  of  the  singularity  of  his 
manners,  and  the  shrewdness  of  his  remarks.  Pie  was  a 
great  friend  to  agriculture,  and  in  him  his  tenants  found 
a  most  excellent  landlord.  As  to  himself,  he  banished 
deer  from  his  park  as  an  unprofitahle  luxury,  and  sup- 
plied its  place  with  black  cattle  and  sheep,  of  which 
great  numbers  were  always  to  be  seen  in  his  domain. 
For  his  oddities,  those  visitors  who  knew  him  well,  made 
a  due  allowance,  but  in  strangers  who  saw  him  for  the 
first  time,  the  uncouth  appearance  of  his  person,  and  the 
singularity  of  his  manners  never  failed  to  excite  uncommon 
sensations. 

It  was  probably  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Robinson 
first  permitted  his  beard  to  grow.  Beards  were  once  con- 
sidered as  marks  of  respectability,  particularly  among 
the  ancients.  With  regard  to  this  article,  however, 
opinion  is  now  reversed,  and  it  is,  at  least  regarded  as  an 
indubitable  token  of  eccentricity.  Why  it  was  adopted  by 
his  Lordship  is  not  known  ;  reasons  for  such  a  conduct 
are  not  easily  discovered  ;  it  bids  defiance  to  conjecture, 
and  baffles  all  sagacity.  So  much  is  certain,  that  he  was 
for  many  years  remarkable  for  this  appendage,  whose 
length,  for  it  reached  nearly  to  his  waist,  proclaimed  it  of 
no  recent  date. 

Imagining  that  sea-bathing  was  good  for  a  disease  of 
the  intestines  with  which  he  was  atHicted,  he  erected  a 
little  hut  on  the  beach  at  Hythe,  about  three  miles  from 
his  own  house,  to  enjoy  the  advantages  resulting  from  it. 
In  this  medicine,  it  is,  however,  probable,  that  he  in- 
dulged to  excess,  as  he  frequently  remained  in  the  water 
until  he  fainted.  To  this  place  he  was  accustomed  to 
walk,  and  was  generally  accompanied  in  his  excursions 
by  a  carriage,  and  a  favourite  servant,  who  got  up  behind 
when  he  was  tired.  Mr.  Robinson,  with  his  hat  under 
his  arm,  proceeded  slowly  on  foot  towards  Hythe,  and 

if 


382  ACCOUNT    OF    LORD    ROKEBY. 

if  it  happened  to  rain,  he  would  make  his  attendants  get 
into  the  carriage,  observing,  "  that  they  were  gaudily 
dressed,  and  not  inured  to  wet,  and  might  therefore 
spoil  their  clothes,  and  occasion  an  illness."  He  after- 
wards constructed  a  bath  contiguous  to  his  house,  which 
was  so  contrived  as  to  be  rendered  tepid  by  the  rays  of 
the  sun  only.  The  frequency  of  his  ablutions  was  asto- 
nishing ;  his  constitution  was  at  length  accustomed  to  the 
practice,  and  was  materially  improved  by  these  repeated 
purifications. 

A  gentleman,  who  happened  a  few  years  since  to  be  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Mountmorris,  resolved  to  procure  a 
sight  of  this  extraordinary  character,  who  had  then  ac- 
ceded to  the  title  of  Lord  Rokeby.  On  my  way,  says  he, 
at  the  summit  of  the  hill  above  Hythe,  which  affords 
a  most  delightful  prospect,  I  perceived  a  fountain  of  pure 
water,  over-running  a  bason  which  had  been  placed  for 
it  by  his  lordship.  I  was  informed  that  there  were 
many  such  on  the  same  road,  and  that  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  bestow  a  few  half  crown  pieces,  plenty  of 
which  he  always  kept  in  a  loose  side-pocket,  on  any 
water-drinkers  he  might  happen  to  find  partaking  of  his 
favourite  beverage,  which  he  never  failed  to  recommend 
with  peculiar  force  arid  persuasion.  On  my  approach,  I 
stopped  some  time  to  examine  the  mansion.  It  is  a  good 
plain  gentleman's  seat;  the  grounds  were  abundantly 
stocked  with  black  cattle,  and  I  could  perceive  a  horse 
or  t\vo  on  the  steps  of  the.  principal  entrance.  After  the 
necessary  enquiries,  I  was  conducted  by  a  servant  to  a 
little  grove,  on  entering  which,  a  building  with  a  glass 
covering,  tbat  at  first  sight  appeared  to  be  a  green-house 
presented  itself.  The  man  who  accompanied  me  opened 
a  little  wicket,  and  on  looking  in,  I  perceived  imme- 
diately under  the  glass,  a  bath  with  a  current  of  water, 
supplied  from  a  pond  behind.  On  approaching  the  door, 

two 


ACCOUNT    OF    LORI)    ROKEBY.  383 

two  handsome  spaniels  with  long  ears,  apparently  of 
King  Charles's  breed,  advanced,  and  like  faithful  guar- 
dians, denied  us  access,  till  soothed  by  the  well  known 
accents  of  the  domestic.  We  then  proceeded,  and 
gently  passing  along  a  wooden  floor,  saw  his  lordship 
stretched  on  his  face  at  the  farther  end.  He  had  just 
come  out  of  the  water,  and  was  dressed  in  an  old  blue 
woollen  coat,  and  pantaloons  of  the  same  colour.  The 
upper  part  of  his  head  was  bald,  but  the  hair  on  his  chin, 
which  could  not  be  concealed  even  by  the  posture  he  had 
assumed,  made  its  appearance  between  his  arms  on  each 
side.  I  immediately  retired,  and  wraited  at  a  little  dis- 
tance until  he  awoke  ;  when  rising,  he  opened  the  door, 
darted  through  the  thicket,  accompanied  by  his  dogs, 
and  made  directly  for  the  house,  while  some  workmen 
employed  in  cutting  timber,  and  whose  tongues  only  I  had 
heard  before,  now  made  the  woods  resound  again  with 
their  axes. 

There  was  likewise  certain  oddities  discoverable  in 
his  dress,  which  was  always  plain,  and  even  mean  ;  nor 
can  it  be  denied,  that  the  hair  with  which  the  lower 
part  of  his  face  was  so  well  furnished,  gave  something 
of  a  squalid  appearance  to  his  whole  person.  His  man- 
ners approached  to  a  primitive  simplicity,  and  though 
perfectly  polite,  he  seemed,  in  every  thing,  to  study 
singularity.  He  spoke  and  acted  in  a  manner  peculiar 
to  himself,  at  the  same  time  treating  those  around  him 
with  frankness  and  liberality.  His  diet  consisted  chiefly 
of  beef-tea :  wine,  and  spirituous  liquors  he  held  in  ab- 
horrence. He,  indeed,  discouraged  the  consumption  of 
exotics  of  every  description,  from  an  idea  that  the  pro- 
ductions of  our  own  island  were  competent  to  the  sup- 
port of  its  inhabitants.  Beef  over  which  boiling  water 
had  been  poured,  and  eaten  off  a  wooden  platter,  was  a 
favourite  dish,  on  which  he  frequently  regaled.  He 

won  Id 


384  ACCOUNT    OF    LORD    ROKEBY. 

would  not  touch  tea  or  coffee  ;for  sugar  hesubstituted 
honey,  as  he  always  cherished  a  strong  attachment  to 
sweet  things.  He  abhorred  fire,  and  delighted  much  in 
the  enjoyment  of  the  air,  without  any  other  canopy  than 
the  Heavens,  and  in  winter  his  windows  were  generally 
open.  In  his  youth  he  was  much  attached  to  the  fair  sex, 
and  even  in  his  old  age,  he  is  said  to  have  been  a  great 
admirer  of  female  beauty. 

The  manner  in  which  he  conducted,  for  it  cannot  with 
propriety  be  said,  cultivated  his  paternal  estate,  was 
another  singular  trait  in  the  character  of  his  lordship. 
The  woods  and  parks  with  which  his  mansion  were  sur- 
rounded, were  left  to  vegetate  in  wild  luxuriancy.  Na- 
ture was  not,  in  any  respect,  checked  by  art,  and  the 
animals  of  every  class  were  left  in  the  same  state  of  per- 
fect freedom,  and  were  seen  bounding  through  his  pas- 
tures with  uncommon  spirit  and  energy.  His  singula- 
rities caused  many  ridiculous  stories  to  be  circulated  con- 
cerning him,  and  among  others  that  he  would  not  suffer 
any  of  his  tenants  to  sow  barley,  because  that  grain 
might  be  converted  into  malt,  which  would  pay  a  tax, 
arid  thus  assist  in  carrying  on  a  war  which  he  conceived 
to  be  unjust.  This  alluded  to  the  late  war  with  France  ; 
how  far  it  might  be  true  we  know  not,  but  it  seems  to 
savor  of  that  consistency  which  he  so  strictly  maintained 
in  other  particulars. 

It  was  not  till  the  10th  of  October  1794,  that  the  sub- 
ject of  this  memoir  succeeded  to  the  title  of  Lord  Roke- 
by,  on  the  death  of  his  uncle  Richard  Robinson,  arch- 
bishop of  Armagh,  and  primate  of  Ireland.  This  acces- 
sion of  honour,  however,  produced  no  alteration  in  his 
sentiments  or  mode  of  life  ;  he  continued  to  be  the  same 
plain,  honest  man,  a  character  on  which  he  justly  prided 
himself.  With  respect  to  politics,  his  conduct  through 
life  was  eminently  consistent  ;  it  was  principles,  and  not 


ACCOUNT    OF    LORD    ROKEBY.  385 

At  the  general  election  in  1796,  he  crossed  the  country 
to  Lenhara,  and  stopping  at  the  Chequers  Inn,  he  was 
there  surrounded  by  the  country  people  from  all  the  ad- 
jacent parts,  who  took  him  for  a  Turk.  From  that  place 
he  proceeded  to  the  poll-booth,  and  gave  his  vote  for  his 
old  friend  Filmer  Honey  wood. 

Prince  William  of  Gloucester  soon  afterwards  passing 
through  Canterbury,  conceived  a  great  inclination  to  pay 
his  lordship  a  visit,  which  being  mentioned  at  Mount" 
morris,  Lord  Rokeby  very  politely  sent  the  prince  an 
invitation  to  dinner.  On  this  occasion  he  presided  at  a 
plentiful  board,  and  evinced  all  the  hospitality  of  an  old 
English  baron.  Three  courses  were  served  up  in  a  splen- 
did style  to  his  royal  highness  and  his  suite,  and  the  re- 
past concluded  with  a  variety  of  excellent  wines,  and  in 
particular  Tokay,  which  had  been  in  the  cellar  half  a  cen- 
tury. 

At  an  age  when  most  men  think  only  of  themselves, 
Lord  Rokeby  proved  that  he  was  not  inattentive  to  what 
he  considered  the  dearest  interests  of  his  country.  In 
179?  he  published  an  excellent  pamphlet,  entitled,  "  An 
Address  to  the  county  of  Kent,  on  their  petition  for  re- 
moving from  the  councils  of  his  Majesty  his  present  minis- 
ters;, and  for  adopting  proper  means  to  procure  a  speedy 
and  a  happy  peace;  together  with  a  postscript  concern- 
ing the  treaty  between  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  and 
France,  and  concerning  our  domestic  situation  in  time  to 
come."  His  reply  to  a  letter  addressed  to  him  by  Lord 
Castlereagh,  was  likewise  a  production  that  would  have 
done  honour  to  a  man  who  had  not  passed  his  grand  cli- 
macteric. 

The  family  of  Lord  Rokeby  has,  indeed,  been  distin- 
guished for  a  literary  turn.  It  was  a  relative  of  his  who 
wrote  the  celebrated  treatise  on  gavel-kind.  His  eldest 
sister,  the  late  Mrs.  Montague,  successfully  defended  the 
memory  and  genius  of  Shakspeare  against  Voltaire  ;  the 

Eccentric,  No.  IX.  3  D  youn°'cr 


386  ACCOUNT  OF  LOUD  ROKEBY. 

younger,  Mrs.  Scott,  who  died  in  1795,  wrote  several 
novels,  some  of  which  obtained  considerable  reputation ; 
and  his  nephew,  Matthew  Montague,  is  not  wholly  un- 
known to  the  world  of  letters. 

Independent  of  his  beard,  Lord  Rokeby  was  cer- 
tainly a  very  singular  character.  He  lived  a  considerable 
portion  of  his  life  in  water  tempered  by  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  and  travelled  on  foot  at  an  age  when  people  of  his 
rank  and  fortune  always  indulge  in  a  carriage.  In  the 
midst  of  a  luxurious  age  he  was  abstemious  both  in  eating 
and  drinking,  and  attained  to  great  longevity,  without 
having  recourse  to  the  aid  of  medicine,  and  indeed  with 
an  utter  contempt  for  the  practitioners  of  physic.  This  he 
carried  to  such  a  length,  that  it  is  related,  when  a  pa- 
roxysm was  expected  to  come  on,  his  lordship  told  his  ne- 
phew that  if  he  staid  he  was  welcome ;  but  if,  out  of  a  false 
humanity,  he  should  call  in  medical  assistance,  and  it 
should  accidentally  happen  that  he  was  not  killed  by  the 
doctor,  he  hoped  he  should  have  sufficient  use  of  his  hands 
and  senses  left  to  make  a  new  will  and  to  disinherit  him. 

With  all  his  eccentricities,  however,  Lord  Rokeby  pos- 
sessed virtues  by  which  his  defects  were  abundantly  over- 
balanced, and  among  these  not  the  least  distinguished 
trait  of  excellence,  was  his  ardent  and  unabated  love  of 
freedom.  Inimical  to  measures  which,  in  his  opinion,  en- 
croached on  the  liberties  of  mankind,  he  never  ceased  to 
raise  his  voice  against  every  species  of  oppression.  Inde- 
pendent in  his  own  views  and  manners,  he  spoke  his  mind 
freely  on  all  occasions,  and  thus  drew  even  from  his  ene- 
mies expressions  of  admiration.  Intent  on  the  diffusion 
of  happiness,  he  uniformly  studied,  though  in  his  own  pe- 
culiar manner,  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  his  country. 

This  truly  patriotic  and  venerable  nobleman  expired  at 
his  seat  in  Kent,  in  the  month  of  December  1800,  in  the 
88th  year  of  his  age. 

A  mv a  in  y 


L     387     ] 
Amusing  Anecdotes  of  Lee  Sugg  the  Ventriloquist. 


To  the  Editor  of  the  Eccentric  Museum. 


As  you  have  always  been  so  obliging  as  to  insert  any  well  authenticated  anec- 
dotes which  I  have  communicated,  T  take  the  liberty  to  present  you  with  the 
following  diverting  particulars  of  that  well  known  Ventriloquist  Lee  Sugg, 
and  I  flatter  myself  they  will  be  found  worthy  of  your  acceptance.  As  I 
believe  there  has  not  been  any  account  published  of  this  extraordinary  and 
eccentric  person,  I  hope  they  will  not  prove  wholly  unentertaining  to  your 
readers,  to  oblige  whom,  will  ever  be  the  wish  of  your 

Constant  Correspondent, 
Nottingham,  July  10th,  1805.  D.   B.  L. 

AN  the  month  of  August,  1799,  Lee  Sugg,  the  ventri- 
loquist, was  at  Kew ;  collecting  some  old  rags  which  he 
formed  into  the  shape  of  a  child,  he  went  to  a  baker's  in 
the  town,  when  the  oven  being  heated  for  roll?,  and  the 
child  crying,  the  baker  observed,  "  it  was  very  unplea- 
sant to  have  cross  children."  The  other,  watching  an 
opportunity,  exclaimed,  "you  little  devil,  I  will  not  be 
plagued  with  you  any  longer  ;"  and  immediately  threw  the 
supposed  child  into  the  flames ;  the  cries  increased  for  a 
moment,  and  then  died  away.  The  baker,  frantic,  ex- 
claimed, "  Oh  !  you  d — d  villain  ;"  and  the  ventriloquist 
running  into  the  street,  the  baker  followed  him,  crying, 
"  Stop  him  !  stop  him  !  he  is  a  murderer  !  he  has  thrown 
a  child  into  my  oven ;"  the  women  also  loaded  him  with 
execrations :  but  being  taken  before  a  magistrate,  whom 
he  made  acquainted  with  the  trick,  and  who  requested 
the  ventriloquist  would  use  his  power,  and  bring  the  child 
before  him,  the  latter  said  it  was  in  the  baker's  pocket ; 
from  whence,  as  the  baker  supposed,  he  again  heard  it  cry, 
he  ran  off,  exclaiming,  "  It  is  the  devil  !  it  is  the  devil !" 

3  D  >2  In 


388  ANECDOTES    OF    LEE    SUGG. 

In  the   month  of  November  1799,  he  was  on  his  jour- 
ney  to   March,  in   the  Isle  of  Ely,  when   he   saw   some 
countrymen  loading    oats,   in  a  field   that  had   heen  in- 
undated by  the  heavy  rains,  which  occasioned  the  harvest 
to  be  extremely  backward  ;   seeing  an  empty  cart  going  to 
the  field,  he  took  this  opportunity  of  entering  into   dis- 
course with  the  driver  of  it,  and  unobserved  by  the  man, 
threw  his  figure  of  a  sailor,  which  he  carried  with  him,  and 
into  which  he  threw  his  voice,  into  the  empty  cart.  At  the 
same  time   alighting  from  his  carriage,  he  said   he  should 
like  to  go  and   see  the  state  in  which  the  oats  were ;   he 
accordingly  proceeded  to  the  field.     The  men  began  load- 
ing their  cart ;    and  when  their  work  was  about  half  ac- 
complished, the   mail  coach  came   on  the  road,  and    Lee 
Sugg's  carriage  rather  stopping  the  way,  the  coachman  and 
passengers  enquired  whose  it  was.     They  were  answered, 
Lee  Sugg's,  and  that  he  was  gone  to  alarm  the  countrymen 
in  the  field  ;   the   passengers  prevailed   on  the  coachman 
to  stop   and  see   the   effect   ventriloquism   would  have  on 
these   people,  they   assented  and  did  not  repent  it. — Lee 
Sugg  now  threw  his  voice  into  the  cart — "I  shall   be  suf- 
focated."    The  ventriloquist  affected  much  surprise  ;    the 
countrymen   stared  at   each  other,  seemingly  astonished  ; 
%e  voice  still  repeated   the   cry  of  "  take  me  out,  father, 
I  shall   be  suffocated !    1  shall  be  smothered  !"    Lee  Sugg 
now  enquired  of  them  if  they  had  any  children  with  them. 
They  answered,  No.    He  then  asked,  "Where  are  you,  my 
dear,  and  where  did  you  come  from  ?"     The  voice  replies, 
"  I  'm  in  the  bottom  of  the  cart,  I  came  for  a  ride  from 
school,  from   Doddington.     Oh!   pray  make  haste,  or   I 
shall  die  !''    The  countrymen  now  became  quite  alarmed, 
and   Lee  Sugg  affecting  great  concern,  and  at  the  same 
time     in    a    seeming    passion,    exclaimed,    "  For   God's 
sake,  make  haste,  unload  ;    it's  my  rascal   of  a  boy  that  I 
have  just  left  at  school   with  Mr.  Binfield,  at  Doddington, 

he 


ANECDOTE*    OF    LEE    SUGG.  389 

he  is  run  away.''  The  countrymen  immediately  unloaded, 
and  when  they  had  got  near  the  bottom,  the  voice  faintly 
utters,  "  Oh  !  take  care — oh  !  you  have  run  the  fork  into 
me, — oh!  I  am  killed."  Lee  Sugg  exclaims,  "God  for- 
bid!— oh!  you  villains;  if  you  have  killed  my  dear  boy, 
I'll  have  you  both  hanged;"  and  immediately  leaping  into 
the  cart,  snatches  up  the  figure,  (which  was  about  three 
feet  high,  and  well  executed,  particularly  its  face  and  eyes) 
exclaims,  "  Oh  !  iuy  poor  child  is  dead  1"  One  of  the 
passengers  willing  to  assist  in  the  joke,  observed  he  had 
better  get  a  little  cold  water  to  wash  his  temples;  the 
countrymen  immediately  ran  for  some,  and  the  temples  of 
the  figure  were  washed  ;  Lee  Sugg  then  threw  his  voice 
into  the  figure,  which  uttered  with  a  sigh,  "  Where  am  I  ?" 
the  countrymen,  transported  with  joy  at  the  returning  life, 
exclaim,  "Here,  sur !  sur!  here,  sur !  thank  God!" — 
The  figure  then  proceeded  with,  "  Sure  I've  passed  the 
silent  gulf  of  death,  and  now  am  landed  on  the  Ely- 
sian  shore."  The  countrymen  exclaim,  i(  Ees,  sur,  ees, 
you  bees  safe  on  shore  on  the  isle  of  Ely  ;  and  thank 
God  we  bees  safe  too,  for  we  thought  just  now  we  should 
all  ha  been  hanged  for  your  gentlemanship."  The  tra- 
vellers now  returned  to  their  coach,  and  Lee  Sugg,  with 
his  son,  as  he  called  him,  to  his  carriage,  after  laughing 
heartily  at  the  adventure. 

Shortly  after  this  Lee  Sugg  was  at  Yarmouth,  at  the  inn 
kept  by  Mr.  Beckham,  in  the  market-place,  and  was  in 
company  with  an  officer  late  of  the  Busy,  with  another 
person,  a  respectable  tradesman  of  Yarmouth.  They  were 
conversing  on  different  subjects,  when  they  were  suddenly 
alarmed  by  a  voice  which  seemed  to  come  from  the  stove, 
and  which  said,  "  Let  me  out  no\v,  father;  come,  pray  let 
me  out,  for  the  kitten  scratches  me."  Their  ears  were 
then  assailed  with  the  cries  of  a  young  kitten,  which  was 
immediately  succeeded  by  that  of  a  young  puppy.  The 

voice 


390  ANECDOTES    OF    LEE    SUGG. 

voice  now  cries,  "  Father,  pray,  do  let  me  out  now,  the  cat 
and  dog  will  fight — I    shall   be    bit — pray  let  me  out." 
Lee  Sugg   affected    to    be    surprised,  and  by  significant 
gestures  seemed  to  wish  to  deter  the  supposed  child  from 
speaking,  his  company  stared  at  each  other,  and  did  not 
know  what  to  think    of  it.     The    officer    seemed  quite 
alarmed,  he  immediately  rose  from  his  seat  and  called  his 
friend  aside  to  ask  him  what  he  thought  of  the  gentleman 
who  sat  there,  (meaning  Lee  Sugg.)  Neither  his  friend  nor 
he  could  tell  what  to  think.  <'  By  G — d,"  says  the  officer, 
"  I'll  tell  you  what  I  think,  its  my  opinion  that  he  wants  to 
get  rid  of  the  child,  and  wishes  to  ship  it  upon  poor  Beck- 
ham  ;  let's  go  in  and  tell  him  so  ;"  they  returned  to  the  inn, 
but  Lee  Sugg  was  gone.     The  officer  immediately  called 
the  landlord — "  Beckham  !  by  God,  you  have  an  addition 
to  your  family."     "  I  dont  understand  you,  sir,"  says  Beck- 
ham.     "  Did  you  observe  that  gentleman  that  we  were 
drinking  with  just  now?"  "  Yes,  sir,"  says  B.  "  By  G — d, 
he's  gone,"  said  the  officer,  "  and  left  you  a  young  one  to 
keep  for  him."    "  Gone,  sir,  that's  impossible — Mr.    Lee 
Sugg  is  not  gone,  I  know,  for  his  carriage  is  here."     "  Has 
he  a  child,"  says  the  officer.   "  Yes,  sir,"  says  Beckham. 
"I'll  be  d — d  but  he's  a  queer  fish  of  a  father,"  replies  the 
son  of  Neptune.     "  Why  so,  sir  ?"  says  Boniface.     "Why 
so  ?  why,  he  has  shut  up  there,  (pointing  to  the  stove,)  a 
cat  and  dog."     "That's  impossible,   sir,"  says  Beckham. 
''  Why,  damme,  d'ye  think  I  wont  believe  my  own  ears  ? 
by  G — d,  I'll  bet  you  a  dozen  of  wine  that  they  are  there 
now.1'     Beckham,  who  now  saw  through  the  business,  told 
them  who  and  what  Lee   Sugg  was ;  they  had  an  hearty 
laugh  at  the  trick,  which  at  first  deceived  them  all,  but 
more  particularly  the  officer,  whom  it  was  found  difficult 
to  convince  that  there  was  not  a  child,  a  cat,  and  dog  con- 
fined in  the  stove. 

The  talents  of  Mr.  Lee  Sugg  are  not  so  well  known  in 

the 


KILLING    CATTLE    OVER-HEATED.  391 

the  metropolis  as  in  the  country,  to  which  his  exhibitions 
have  been  principally  confined.  We  believe,  however, 
that  he  has  recently  fixed  his  residence  in  London,  and 
that  he  gives  instructions  to  such  as  wish  to  learn  his  art' 
On  these  occasions  he  is  assisted  by  his  daughter,  about 
eleven  years  of  age,  who  seems  to  inherit,  in  great  perfec- 
tion, the  talent  for  which  her  father  is  so  eminently  distin- 
guished. 


Dangerous  consequences  of  killing   Cattle  over-heated  with 

driving. 

AT  appears  from  incontestable  evidence,  that  from  killing 
cattle  which  have  been  much  fatigued  or  harassed  in 
driving,  while  yet  warm,  consequences  highly  dangerous 
and  even  fatal,  may  result  to  those  engaged  in  the  opera- 
tion ;  while  those  who  feed  upon  the  flesh  experience  not 
the  slightest  inconvenience.  Whether  any  noxious  vapour 
exhales  at  such  a  time  from  the  carcase,  has  not  been  ac- 
curately ascertained,  but  so  much  is  certain  that  the  con- 
tact of  the  blood  is  productive  of  the  most  alarming  effects. 
The  following  fact  was  communicated  by  M.  Morand, 
physician  to  the  Hotel  des  Invalides  at  Paris,  to  the  French 
academy. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  1765,  two  butchers  belonging  to 
the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  each  killed  an  ox  for  the  use  of 
the  house,  and  the  flesh  was  employed  as  usual  for  the 
officers  and  soldiers,  without  producing  any  inconvenience 
to  those  who  ate  of  it  either  roasted  or  boiled. 

The  following  day,  however,  one  of  the  butchers  com- 
plained that  his  eye-lids  were  swelled,  and  of  head-ache. 
The  swelling  extended  to  his  cheeks  ;  fever  succeeded, 
and  he  was  carried  to  the  infirmary  of  the  Hotel.  He 
grew  worse,  and  bleeding  afforded  him  very  little  relief, 
except  a  slight  diminution  of  his  head-ache.  Emetics, 
which  were  administered  on  the  fourth  day,  appeared  to  be 

more 


392  KILLING    CATTLE    OVER    HEATED. 

more  efficacious.  On  his  eye-lids  and  different  parts  of 
his  face  rose  tumours  which  threatened  mortification,  but 
at  length  an  eschar  was  formed,  which  with  difficulty  was 
brought  to  suppurate.  On  the  15th  the  eschar  fell  off  and 
left  a  considerable  wound,  which  was  healed  in  the  ordi- 
nary way.  On  the  20th  the  left  thigh  was  attacked  with  a 
violent  pain,  as  was  the  right  leg  on  the  following  day. 
The  pain  and  swelling  being  only  increased  by  fomenta- 
tion, recourse  was  had  to  cataplasms.  The  two  places 
were  brought  to  suppurate,  and  it  was  not  till  the  3d  of 
January  that  the  patient  left  the  infirmary,  after  having 
been  there  upwards  of  three  months. 

The  other  butcher  was  not  attacked  by  the  same  dis- 
order till  two  days  after  killing  the  animal.  He  suffered 
more  than  his  colleague,  but  yet  he  was  able  to  leave  the 
infirmary  on  the  8th  of  December,  upwards  of  three  weeks 
before  him. 

These  two  oxen  had  been  examined  according  to  the 
constant  custom  of  the  house,  and  they  were  not  observed 
to  have  any  malady  or  distemper.  They  only  appeared 
to  be  rather  fatigued  ;  and  they  were  killed  in  the  ordinary 
way.  The  blood  of  these  animals  seemed  in  no  respect 
different  from  that  of  others,  and  neither  of  the  butchers 
had  any  wound  by  which  the  blood  could  have  penetrated 
into  the  interior  of  their  bodies.  On  opening  the  carcases, 
no  extraordinary  smell  was  perceived. 

The  manager  of  the  slaughter-house  had  been  in  the 
same  capacity  in  the  army,  and  he  informed  M.  Morand, 
that  oxen  very  much  fatigued  had  often  been  killed  for 
the  use  of  the  troops,  without  being  attended  with  incon- 
venience to  either  officer  or  soldier :  but  it  had  sometimes 
happened  that  the  butchers  who  had  killed  them  had  been 
attacked  with  the  same  disease  as  those  of  the  Invalides, 
and  that  some  of  them  had  even  died  of  it. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable, that  the  vapour  from  animals 

attacked 


KILLING     CATTLE    OVER-HEATED.  393 

attacked  with  the  cattle  distemper,  called  bovilla  pestis, 
does  not  in  the  least  affect  those  who  open  them,  either 
when  dead  or  dying;.  A  surgeon-major,  during  the  con- 
tagion in  1712,  opened  upwards  of  two  hundred  of  them 
without  experiencing  the  least  inconvenience.  What  is 
still  more,  it  appears  from  several  examples  cited  by 
Morand,that  the  flesh  of  these  animals  has  heen  eaten  with- 
out producing  any  bad  effects. 

The  above  fact  was  not  related  to  the  academy  till  a 
year  after  it  had  happened,  as  Morand  wished  to  see 
whether  the  men  were  liable  to  a  relapse.  Duhamel, 
who  was  present  at  the  reading  of  Morand's  memoir,  com- 
municated to  the  academy  a  similar  circumstance  which 
took  place  at  Pithivier. — In  a  drove  of  cattle  proceeding 
from  Limosin  to  Paris,  one  of  the  finest  was  unable  to 
keep  up  with  the  rest.  Agreeably  to  the  advice  of  some 
dealers  and  butchers  he  was  sold  to  a  butcher  of  Pithivier, 
who  sent  his  man  to  kill  him  at  the  inn  where  he  was. 
The  fellow  having  put  his  knife  into  his  mouth  for  a  few 
moments  during  the  operation,  was  some  hours  afterwards 
attacked  with  a  swelling  of  the  tongue,  an  oppression  of 
the  breast,  and  a  difficulty  of  respiration.  Blackish 
pustules  appeared  all  over  his  body,  and  he  died  on  the 
fourth  day  of  a  general  mortification.  The  inn-keeper 
having  scratched  the  palm  of  his  hand  with  a  bone  of  the 
same  animal,  a  livid  tumor  rose  on  the  place,  the  arm  mor- 
tified, and  he  died  in  the  course  of  a  week.  His  wife  hav- 
ino-  received  a  few  drops  of  blood  on  the  back  of  her  hand 

£3  *• 

a  tumor  succeeded,  of  which  she  was  with  difficulty  cured. 
The  maid-servant  having  passed  under  the  pluck  which 
was  hung  up,  a  few  drops  of  blood  fell  upon  her  cheek? 
and  produced  a  violent  inflammation,  that  was  followed  by 
black  tumors,  of  which  she  was  cured,  but  which  greatly 
disfigured  her.  The  surgeon  of  the  Hotel  Dieu  at  Pitbi- 
vier  having  opened  one  of  these  tuiLcrs,  put  his  lancet 
Eccentric,  A~o.  TX.  3  E  between 


394       LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSEPH    WALL,    ESQ. 

between  his  wig  and  his  forehead ;  his  head  swelled,  an 
eresipelas  or  St.  Anthony's  fire  succeeded,  and  it  was  a 
considerable  time  before  he  recovered. 

Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  the  blood  of 
this  animal  was  infectious ;  but  yet  the  flesh  was  sold  to 
the  principal  families  of  Pithivier  and  the  vicinity,  and 
none  of  those  who  ate  of  it  experienced  any  inconvenience. 


Particulars  of  the  Life  and  horrible  Cruelties  of  Joseph 
Wall,  Esq.  who  was  executed  at  Newgate,  for  the 
murder  of  a  soldier  under  his  command  while  governor  of 
Goree. 

r\MONG  the  many  instances  of  the  signal  vengeance  of 
Heaven  against  the  crime  of  murder,  the  fate  of  Governor 
Wall  is  an  instance  not  the  least  striking.  Nor  is  it  a  less 
consolatory  proof  of  the  exemplary  justice  of  British  laws 
in  vindicating  injured  innocence  and  punishing  the  guilty, 
whom  neither  rank  nor  any  other  consideration  can 
screen  from  their  influence. 

Governor  Joseph  Wall  was  born  in  the  year  1737,  and 
was  ih e  eldest  of  three  sons  of  Mr.  Gerrard  Wall,  a  re- 
spectable farmer  at  Abbey leix  in  the  Queen's  County, 
Ireland,  all  of  whom  were  remarkable  for  their  uncommon 
stature,  athletic  form,  and  personal  comeliness.  After 
receiving  an  education  suitable  to  the  circumstances  of 
his  father,  he  with  one  of  his  youngest  brothers,  Augustine, 
entered  as  a  cadet  in  the  army  in  1760,  and  volunteered 
on  foreign  service.  Both  distinguished  themselves  for 
great  personal  bravery  at  the  taking  of  the  Havannah 
and  on  other  occasions,  and  at  the  peace  Joseph  returned 
home  with  the  rank  of  ensign.  Being  of  an  adventurous 
turn,  he  obtained  a  command  in  the  service  of  the  East 
Jndia  Company  a:ul  went  to  Bombay,  but  in  a  few  years 

returned 


LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OP    JOSEPH    WALL,  ESQ.        395 

returned  to  Ireland,  in  consequence,  it  is  said,  of  the  re- 
fusal of  his  brother  officers  to  associate  with  him  on  ac- 
count of  an  unfair  duel. 

Possessing-  a  comely  and  rather  an  elegant  person,  the 
advantages  of  travel,  and  that  polish  which  the  manners  of 
young  men  generally  receive  from  a  military  life,  Lieute- 
nant Wall  now  directed  his  thoughts  towards  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  rich  heiress.  Having  occasionally  seen  a  wealthy 
spinster,  named  Miss  Gregory,  at  the  inn  of  the  village 
where  his  father's  property  was  situated,  on  her  way  to  and 
from  the  metropolis,  he  took  occasion  to  introduce  him- 
self to  the  lady  in  such  a  gallant  way,  and  to  press  his  suit 
in  a  manner  so  coercive,  that  the  lady,  to  vindicate  her 
character,  and  mark  her  indignation  at  the  freedoms  of 
such  a  determined  suitor,  instituted  a  prosecution  against 
him  for  an  assault  and  defamation  at  the  county  assizes, 
and  succeeded  in  his  conviction  and  penal  chastisement. 

Seeing  no  possibility  of  obtaining  his  ends  in  Ireland, 
and  having  an  affair  with  an  eminent  counsellor  there. 
Lieutenant  Wall  fled  to  England,  where  he  for  some  years 
divided  his  time  between  the  metropolis  and  the  watering 
places,  alternately  engaged  in  the  pursuits  of  fortune- 
hunting,  intrigue,  and  the  gaming-table.  At  length  he 
married,  and  through  the  interest  of  his  wife's  friends 
obtained  a  lieutenancy  in  the  African  corps,  with  which  he 
proceeded  to  Senegal.  Not  long  afterwards  he  was  sent 
with  the  rank  of  captain  to  superintend  the  settlement 
of  Gambia,  where  his  peculations  and  his  cruelties  began. 
Complaints  being  made  of  his  conduct  to  Mr.  M'Namara 
governor  of  Senegal,  the  latter  threatened  to  bring  him  to 
trial,  on  which  Wall  left  Gambia  without  leave,  and  re- 
paired to  the  seat  of  the  government.  M'Namara  sent 
him  back,  and  ordered  him  into  confinement  for  quitting 
his  post  without  permission.  This  subject,  on  the  return 
of  Captain  Wall  to  England,  in  1779,  was  submitted  to  the 

3  K  2  consideration 


396          LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSEPH    WALL,    ESQ. 

consideration  of  a  British  court  of  justice,  where  Captain 
Wall  brought  an  action  against  the  governor  for  damages 
for  false  imprisonment,  and  obtained  a  verdict  for  10001. 
it  appearing  to  the  court,  that  the  defendant  had  been 
actuated  by  cruelty  and  malice,  in  shutting  up  the  plaintiff 
in  a  gloomy  prison,  excluded  from  the  use  of  the  common 
air,  in  that  burning  climate.  Gambia  was  in  the  mean 
time  taken  by  the  French,  and  Senegal  being  in  the  utmost 
confusion,  government  thought  proper  to  appoint  Wall 
captain  commandant,  and  he  sailed  in  1779  in  the  fleet 
of  Sir  Edward  Hughes,  with  on  African  corps  to  garrison 
Senegal  and  Gambia.  On  the  passage,  this  corps,  ha- 
rassed Jby  the  cruelties  of  their  commander,  threatened 
to  throw  him  overboard,  when  a  detachment  of  the  75th 
regiment  was  sent  from  the  other  ships  to  keep  them  in 
order.  It  was  probably  on  this  occasion  that  the  follow- 
ing act  of  atrocity,  which  is  related  of  the  governor,  took 
place.  Among  the  recruits  consigned  to  his  command 
on  the  passage  outwards,  was  an  unfortunate  man  named 
Green,  who  had  been  a  hatter  in  Catherine  Street,  in  the 
Strand,  and  who,  being  convicted  of  some  crime,  was 
sentenced  to  transportation  for  fourteen  years.  His  wife, 
an  amiable  but  heart-broken  woman,  was  permitted  to 
accompany  him  on  the  voyage,  and  shortly  after  the  vessel 
had  sailed  from  the  Downs,  symptoms  of  mutiny  were 
discovered  among  the  convicts.  Several  had  sawed  off 
their  irons,  and  Green  was  charged,  not  with  any  act  of 
mutiny,  but  with  furnishing  the  convicts  with  money  to 
procure  implements  for  their  release.  In  his  justification, 
the  unfortunate  man  stated  that  he  had  only  lent  some  of 
the  wretches  a  few  shillings  to  take  some  sheets  and  other 
necessaries  out  of  pawn.  This  defence,  however,  was 
not  admitted.  He  was  brought  to  the  gang-way  by 
order  of  the  governor,  without,  drum-head  or  any  other 
court-martial,  and  flogged  with  a  boatswain's  cat  until  his 

bonus 


LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSEPH    WALL,   ESQ.  397 

bones  were  laid  bare.  Still  the  unfortunate  man  never 
uttered  a  groan.  The  governor,  who  superintended  the 
punishment,  swore  "  he  would  conquer  the  rascal's  stub- 
bornness, and  either  make  him  cry  out  or  whip  out  his 
guts."  The  surgeon  remonstrated,  hut  in  vain,  on  the  dan- 
ger of  the  man's  death.  Ensign  Wall,  the  governor's 
brother,  a  humane  vouno;  man,  on  his  knees  intreated  that 

*/  c/ 

the  punishment  should  cease,  but  also  in  vain  ;  his  impor- 
tunities only  served  to  provoke  a  threat  that  he  himself 
should  be  put  under  arrest.  He  then  endeavoured  to 
persuade  the  unfortunate  Green  to  cry  out,  and  save  him- 
self; but  the  unhappy  man  said  it  was  now  too  late,  as 
he  felt  himself  dying  and  unable  to  cry  out,  that  he  had 
not  refused  from  obstinancy,  but  concealed  his  pangs, 
lest  his  wretched  wife,  who  was  below  and  knew  nothing 
of  his  situation,  should  hear  his  cries  and  die  with  anguish. 
The  flogging  was  continued  until  the  convulsions  of  his 
bowels  appeared  through  the  wounds  of  his  lacerated 
loins,  when  he  fainted  under  the  lash,  and  was  consigned  to 
the  surgeon's  care,  but  died  in  a  few  days.  His  miserable 
wife  died  heart-broken  under  the  care  of  the  surgeon,  who 
gave  evidence  against  the  governor  at  his  trial  at  the  Old 
Bailey,  and  on  whose  authority  it  would  appear  that  this 
anecdote  is  related.  Such  was  the  hopeful  commencement 
of  that  series  of  crimes,  one  of  which  at  length  brought 
this  sanguinary  tyrant  to  the  scaffold. 

This  event  stamped  a  melancholy  horror  on  the  mind 
of  the  governor's  brother,  which  was  not  abated  during 
the  voyage,  and  on  his  arrival  at  the  place  of  his  destina- 
tion, he  was  seized  with  a  raging  fever  in  which  he  died, 
expressing  abhorrence  and  execration  of  the  cruelty  of 
his  brother,  warning  the  officers  to  beware  of  him,  and 
not  suffering  him  to  come  within  his  sight. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  in  Africa,  findin"'  Senegal  in 

*  O  O 

the  hands  of  the  French,  and  Gambia  destroyed,  Captain 

Wall 


398          LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSEPH    WALL,    ESQ. 

Wall  and  his  corps  were  sent  to  the  West  Indies,  where 
they  were  distributed  among  the  men  of  war  as  marines. 

In  a  short  time  he  returned  home  in  the  Tortoise  store- 
ship  which  foundered  at  sea,  but  the  people  were  brought 
home  in  a  brig  which  picked  them  up.  These  misfortunes 
were  represented  to  government  in  such  a  light,  that  Wall 
was  sent  out  as  captain  commandant  to  Goree,  with  a  corps 
to  garrison  that  island,  and  to  relieve  the  artillery  and 
75th  regiment  under  Captain  Adams.  From  an  inform- 
ality in  Wall's  orders  to  take  the  command  of  the  island, 
and  Captain  Adams  having  received  no  directions  to  give 
it  up,  disputes  arose  and  ran  very  high  ;  but  the  former 
having  the  assistance  of  his  majesty's  sloop  Zephyr,  landed 
the  troops  he  had  brought  out,  took  possession  of  the 
island,  and  brought  Captain  Adams  and  his  officers  to  trial. 
The  result  was  that  they  were  sentenced  to  be  dismissed 
his  majesty's  service  for  ever;  but  this  judgment,  as  well 
as  that  of  all  the  courts-martial  assembled  by  him,  was 
reversed  by  the  king. 

Having  taken  possession  of  his  government,  his  acts  of 
violence  in  the  island  were  both  numerous  and  terrible. 
He  imprisoned  the  chiefs  of  villages,  and  made  them 
pay  a  number  of  slaves  for  their  release;  he  confined 
the  market  people  and  sold  them,  thus  cutting  off  the 
settlement  from  all  supplies  from  the  continent.  He  tried 
natives  and  inhabitants  of  the  island  on  frivolous  pre- 
tences, condemned  them  to  death,  out  of  pure  humanity 
sold  them  for  slaves,  and  put  the  money  in  his  pocket, 
He  even  sent  to  the  continent  formal  embassies,  with  or- 
ders to  those  who  composed  them,  to  tie  the  chiefs  of  the 
villages  hand  and  foot,  and  bring  them  away  to  the  island, 
where  he  sold  them  ;  he  sent  the  inhabitants  on  board  of 
ships,  and  when  their  wives  lamented,  he  put  them  into 
the  black  hole  and  threatened  to  have  them  flogged.  He 
tied  up  women  of  the  highest  rank  to  trees,  and  accused 

them 


LIFE    AXD    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSEPH    WALL,    ESQ.       399 

them  of  mutiny  if  they  refused  to  give  him  slaves  when  he 
demanded  them.  He  dismissed  Town-Major  Houghton, 
because  he  would  riot  sign  false  copies  of  courts-martial ; 
Mr.  Baron,  commissary  of  stores,  because  he  would  not 
allow  him  to  plunder  them,  and  the  officer  of  artillery  was 
broken  because  he  would  not  relinquish  the  magazine  to 
his  depredations.  An  officer  of  his  own  corps  was  put  in 
irons  in  the  guard-house  for  preventing  another  from 
challenging  Major  Houghton.  This  officer  was  after- 
wards confined  in  his  own  room,  and  though  dangerously 
ill,  his  windows  were  shut  up,  and  when  the  surgeon  ap- 
plied for  leave  to  open  them  he  was  called  a  mutineer,  and 
abused  in  the  most  virulent  manner.  In  this  dangerous 
state  he  was  desired  to  give  up  his  vouchers  for  the  pay- 
ment of  his  company,  but  on  his  refusal,  he  was  desired  to 
copy  them,  and  though  the  surgeon's  certificate  proved 
that  to  IDC  impossible,  he  was  farther  confined  for  dis- 
obedience of  orders.  When  the  governor  wished  to  try 
this  officer,  the  surgeon  certified  that  he  could  not  be 
moved,  as  he  had  not  been  out  of  bed  for  many  weeks,  yet 
he  was  brought  by  force  in  a  chair,  carried  by  soldiers,  to 
the  court. 

The  governor  was  subject  to  the  most  violent  fits  of 
passion,  in  one  of  which  he  severely  wounded  Serjeant 
Smith  on  the  parade  for  not  standing  right,  and  confined 
him  in  the  black  hole,  where  the  surgeon  was  not  allowed 
to  visit  him.  The  next  morning  the  governor  wished  to 
know  if  he  was  fit  for  punishment,  but  the  surgeon  re- 
ported him  fitter  for  the  hospital,  on  which  the  governor's 
abuse  had  on  bounds  ;  he  was  called  a  mutineer,  and  told 
that  his  hospital  was  like  the  Scotch  churches,  an  asylum 
for  villains  and  blackguards.  On  every  occasion,  when 
the  surgeon  interfered  for  the  men,  he  was  accused  of 
mutiny;  and  so  jealous  was  Wall  of  his  pretended  hu- 
manity, as  he  called  it,  that  he  always  appeared  on  the 

parade 


•400        LIFE    AND    CRUELTILS    OF    JOSEPH     WALL,    ESQ. 

parade  himself  to  see  that  every  lash  of  the  sentence  was 
inflicted  with  the  utmost  severity. 

Such  was    the  system  of  tyranny,   cruelty  and  rapine, 
established  by  the  governor   during  the  two  years  he  held 
the  government  of  Goree  ;    but  the  concluding  scene  was 
yet  wanting  to  crown  all  his  cruelties.     He  had  announced 
his  intention  of  departing  for  England  on  the  llth  of  July 
1782,  and  with   him  was  to  embark  Ensign  Bearing  the 
commissary.     The  men  of  the  African  corps  having  been 
for  some  time  on  short  allowance,   applied  to  the  commis- 
sary for  the  compensation  which  is  invariably   made  on 
such  occasions.     On  their  way  to  his  house  they  were  re- 
primanded by  the   governor,  who,  with  threats  of  punish- 
ment, ordered  them   to  desist.      The  men  peaceably  re- 
tired ;     but   in  about    an    hour    and    a  half,  twenty    or 
thirty   of  them,  with   Serjeant  Armstrong  at  their  head, 
again     advanced     towards     the     government- house,     for 
the  purpose  of   obtaining    a  settlement  of  their  arrears. 
The  governor  went  out,  called  to  Armstrong,  and  ordered 
him  to  go  back  to  the  barracks  or  they  should  be  punished. 
The  men,   who  were  not  in  their  uniforms,    nor  had  any 
arms,  immediately  obeyed.     At  an  earlier  hour  than  was 
usual  for  them  to  attend  the    parade,  the    governor  or- 
dered  the  long  roll  to  be  beat,    and  the  men  to  attend 
without  arms.     They  were  then  commanded  to  form  into 
a  circle,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  the  governor  with 
three  or  four  officers.     The  latter  conversed   together  for 
a  minute  or  two,  without  the  least  form  or  appearance  of 
a    court-martial,  after  which  the    governor  called   Arm- 
strong out  of  the  ranks.     The  carriage  of  a  six-pounder 
was  brought   into   the  circle  ;  the  unfortunate   man    was 
ordered  to  strip,  and  being  tied  to  it,  was  flogged,   not  by 
drummers  as  ussial,    but  by  five  or  six  blacks,  with  pieces 
of  rope  about  an  inch  in  circumference.     The  governor 
stood    by,  urging   them    through  the  medium   of  the  lin- 


LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSF.PH    WALL,    ESQ.       401 

guisttodo  their  duty,  and  repeatedly  saying:  "  Lay  on,  you 

black  b s,  or  I'll  lay  on  you ;    cut  him  to  the  heart!  cut 

his  liver  out!"  Eight  hundred  lashes  were  thus  inflicted, 
after  which  Armstrong  was  led  to  the  hospital.  His  back 
was  found  to  be  as  black  as  a  new  hat,  and  he  continued 
to  grow  worse  and  worse,  till  in  about  four  days  death 
relieved  him  from  his  misery. 

The  pretence  on  which  this  horrible  punishment  was 
inflicted  was,  that  Armstrong  and  his  comrades  had  be- 
haved in  a  mutinous  manner,  and  this  likewise  was  the 
defence  which  the  governor  made  upon  his  trial  for  his 
atrocious  conduct.  Nothing  of  the  kind  could,  however, 
be  proved,  and  the  real  cause  of  his  inveteracy  against 
Armstrong  and  the  other  unhappy  men  who  suffered  on 
the  same  occasion,  is  stated  to  have  been  the  following. 
Armstrong  and  Robinson,  according  to  the  declaration  of 

o  '  o 

the  latter,  were  found  tampering  with  Jordan,  (one  of 
two  men  who  had  been  confined  by  the  provost),  to  give 
information  against  the  commandant  for  confining  his 
fellow  prisoner  Pauler's  hands  and  legs  in  irons,  till  he  was 
devoured  by  rats.  This  circumstance,  with  advice  he  had 
received  from  his  agent  at  home,  informing  him  of  many 
charges  against  him,  and  of  the  intention  of  government 

O  o  o 

to  send  out  a  superior  officer  to  try  him  at  Goree,  enraged 
him  almost  to  madness,  and  caused  such  excessive  severity 
in  his  punishments.  Armstrong  and  Robinson  received 
each  800  lashes;  next  morning,  Evans  and  Paterson 
the  same  number,  Upton  375,  Shaw  75,  and  Fawcet, 
47. 

Among  these  unfortunate  men,  Armstrong  was  not.  the 
only  victim  to  the  vengeance  of  the  implacable  governor ; 
Upton  and  Paterson  likewise  sunk  beneath  the  lash  of 
his  tyranny.  Such  was  the  system  of  terror  which  he  had 
pstablished,  that  not  an  officer,  the  surgeon,  or  any  other 
individual  under  his  command  dared  to  interfere,  unless 

Eccentric,  No.  IX,  3  F  they 


402        LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSEPH    WALL,    ESQ. 

they  wished  to  hazard  personal  insult   or  perhaps  their 
lives. 

On  the  llth  of  July  1782,  the  settlement  was  relieved 
from  the  monster  by  which  it  had  too  long  been  harassed. 
The  governor  sailed  on  that  day  for  England;  where,  on 
his  arrival,  a  series  of  charges  were  exhibited  against  him 
by  Captain  Roberts,  and  Major  Houghton,  who  had  been 
under  his  command  at  Goree.  On  some  of  these  charges 
he  was  summoned  before  the  Privy  Council,  and  brought 
to  trial  before  a  court-martial  at  the  Horse-Guards,  but 
the  principal  witnesses  not  having  then  arrived,  and 
strong  apprehensions  being  entertained  that  the  vessel 
on  board  of  which  they  were  had  been  lost  on  her  passage, 
he  was  only  ordered  to  be  reprimanded  at  the  head  of  the 
corps  serving  in  Africa. 

The  governor  then  repaired  to  Bath,  where  he  resided, 
till,  on  the  arrival  of  the  principal  witnesses  in  London, 
two  messengers  were  dispatched  to  Bath,  in  the  beginning 
of  March  1784,  to  apprehend  him.  By  the  assistance  of 
a  lady  with  whom  he  had  formed  an  acquaintance  in  that 
city,  he  contrived  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  officers  at 
Reading,  and  arrived  undiscovered  at  Holyrood  House, 
Edinburgh,  where  he  was  sometime  concealed.  There 
he  first  met  the  sister  of  a  peer  of  Scotland  to  whom  he 
was  afterwards  united  in  marriage,  and  who  survives  to 
lament  his  fate.  With  this  lady  he  fled  to  Franco,  and 
lived  in  various  parts  of  the  continent;  till  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  1801  lie  resolved  to  return  to  England,  to  surren- 
der himself  for  trial.  To  this  step  he  was  induced  by  the 
death  of  all  the  officers  who  were  said  to  have  composed 
the  court-martial  on  Armstrong,  and  the  supposed  disso- 
lution or  dispersion  of  the  other  principal  witnesses. 
Concluding  from  these  circumstances  that,  after  a  lapse 
of  twenty  years,  his  guilt  could  not  be  established,  he 
wrote  a  letter  dated  October  25,  1801,  to  Lord  Pclham, 

s:atinir 


LIFE    AND    CRUELTIES    OF   JOSEPH    WALL,    ESQ.        403 

stating  that  he  had  returned  to  England  for  the  purpose 
of  meeting  the  charges  against  him. 

Fortunately,  however,  for  the  cause  of  justice,  several  of 
the  officers  and  men  who  were  present  at  the  punishment 
of  Armstrong  still  survived,  and  on  the  trial  of  the  go- 
vernor, which  took  place  at  the  Old  Bailey  on  the  20th  of 
January  1802,  such  a  body  of  concurrent  evidence  was 
brought  forward  against  him,  on  a  charge  of  the  wilful 
murder  of  Armstrong,  establishing  the  facts  as  already 
related  above,  that  he  was  found  guilty  and  accordingly 
sentenced  to  die.  The  most  powerful  interest  was  made 
in  his  behalf,  and  a  respite  which  was  granted  encouraged 
him  to  hope  that  the  royal  mercy  would  be  extended  to 
his  crimes.  In  this  expectation  he  was  cruelly  disap- 
pointed. On  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  January,  prepa- 
rations were  made  for  the  execution  of  his  sentence,  which 
was  accompanied  by  no  circumstance  worthy  of  particular 
notice,  excepting  that  as  soon  as  he  had  ascended  the  scaf- 
fold, three  successive  shouts  from  an  innumerable  multitude 
of  spectators,  assembled  to  witness  his  exit,  the  brutal 
effusion  of  one  common  sentiment,  evidently  deprived  him 
of  the  fortitude  he  had  summoned  to  meet  his  fate.  After 
the  usual  forms  of  dissection,  the  body  was  consigned  to 
his  unhappy  relatives. 

We  cannot  forbear  annexing  to  this  account,  the  follow- 
ing remarkable  anecdote  relative  to  the  governor,  extracted 
from  Mr.  Carr's  tour  from  Devonshire  to  Paris. 

"As  I  have  alluded  (says  he)  to  the  fate  of  Governor 
Wall,  I  will  conclude  this  chapter  by  relating  an  anecdote 
of  the  terror  and  infatuation  of  guilt  displayed  in  the  con- 
duct of  this  wretched  rnan,  in  the  presence  of  a  friend  of 
mine  from  whom  I  received  it. — A  few  years  before  he 
suffered,  fatigued  with  life,  and  pursued  by  poverty,  and 
the  frightful  remembrance  of  his  offences,  then  almost 
forgotten  by  the  world,  he  left  the  South  of  France  for 

3  F  2  Calais 


404         LIFE   AND    CRUELTIES    OF    JOSEPH  WALL,    ESQ. 

Calais,  with  an  intention  of  passing  over  to  England,  to 
offer  himself  up  to  its  laws,  not  without  the  cherished 
hope  that  a  lapse  of  so  many  years  had  swept  away  all 
evidence  of  his  guilt. 

"At  the  time  of  his  arrival  at  this  port-town,  the  hotel 

in  which  Madame  M was  waiting  for  a  packet  to 

Dover  was  very  much  crowded :  the  landlord  requested 
of  her  that  she  would  he  pleased  to  permit  two  gentlemen, 
who  were  going  to  England,  to  take  some  refreshment  in 
her  room  ;  these  persons  proved  to  be  the  unfortunate 
Brooks,  a  king's  messenger,  charged  with  important  dis- 
patches to  his  court,  and  Governor  Wall.  The  latter  was 
dressed  like  a  decayed  gentleman,  and  bore  about  him  all 
the  indications  of  his  reduced  condition.  They  had  not 
been  seated  at  the  table  long,  before  the  latter  informed  the 
former,  with  evident  marks  of  perturbation,  that  his  name 
was  Wall ;  that  having  been  charged  in  England  with 
offences  which,  if  true,  subjected  him  to  heavy  punish- 
ment, he  was  anxious  to  place  himself  at  the  disposal  of 
its  laws,  and  requested  him,  as  he  was  an  English  messen- 
ger, that  he  would  consider  him  as  his  prisoner,  and  take 
charge  of  him. 

"The  messenger,  who  was  much  surprised  by  the  ap- 
plication, told  him  that  he  could  not,  upon  such  a  re- 
presentation, take  him  into  custody,  unless  he  had  an 
order,  from  the  Duke  of  Portland's  office  to  that  effect  : 
and  that,  in  order  to  obtain  it,  it  would  be  proper  for  him 
to  wrile  his  name,  that  it  might  be  compared  with  his 
hand-writing  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  which 
he  offered  to  carry  over  with  him.  Governor  Wall  still 
pressed  him  to  take  him  into  custody,  the  messenger 
more  strongly  declined  it,  by  informing  him,  he  was  the 
bearer  of  dispatches  of  great  importance  to  his  court,  that, 
he  must  immediately  cross  the  channel,  and  should  ha- 
zard a  passage,  although  the  weather  looked  louring,  in  an 

open 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  FAIRLOP  OAK.  405 

open  boat,  as  no  packet  had  arrived,  and  that  consequently 
it  was  altogether  impossible  to  take  him  over,  but  again 
requested  him  to  write  his  name,  for  the  purpose  already 
mentioned.  The  governor  consented,  pens  and  paper 
were  brought,  but  the  hand  of  the  murderer  shook  so 
dreadfully  that  he  could  not  write.  In  an  agony  of  mind, 
bordering  on  frenzy,  he  rushed  out  of  the  room,  and  im- 
mediately left  the  town. 

"  The  messenger  entered  the  boat,  and  set  sail;  a  storm 
quickly  followed,  the  boat  sunk  in  sight  of  the  pier,  and  all 
on  board  but  one  of  the  watermen  perished  ! 

"Thus  the  Great  Disposer  of  human  destiny,  in  vindi- 
cation of  his  eternal  justice,  rescued  the  life  of  this  infa- 
tuated delinquent  from  the  waves,  and  from  a  sudden 
death,  to  resign  him  to  the  public  and  merited  doom  of 
the  laws." 


Present  State  of  Fairlop  Oah. 
With  an  accurate  View. 


I 


the  first  volume  of  Kirby's  Wonderful  Museum,  p.  91 
and  187,  will  be  found  an  account  of  this  venerable  te- 
nant of  the  forest,  and  various  particulars  relative  to  the 
founder  of  the  fair  annually  held  beneath  its  shade.  As 
we  make  a  point  of  adding,  from  time  to  time,  such  far- 
ther circumstances  relative  to  any  subject  already  de- 
scribed, as  may  contribute  to  render  our  accounts  as  com- 
plete as  possible,  we  thought  that  an  engraving  of  this 
remarkable  tree  in  its  present  state  would  not  be  un- 
acceptable, particularly  to  those  who  possess  the  descrip- 
tion alluded  to  above. 

It  was  there  remarked  that  frequent  fires  were  made  by 
parties  visiting  the  spot,  in  the  cavities  of  the  tree.  By 
this  practice  the  trunk  has  been  weakened  to  such  a  de- 
gree as  to  render  it  incapable  of  supporting  all  its  massive 

branches, 


406  OF    DWARFS. 

branches,  which  began  to  spring  at  the  height  of  only 
twelve  feet  from  the  ground.  In  consequence  of  this, 
several  of  these  cumbrous  limbs  lately  broke  off  the 
parent  trunk,  and  are  now  lying  as  described  in  the  an- 
nexed engraving,  which  is  an  exact  view  of  this  venerable 
relic  of  antiquity  as  it  appeared  on  the  first  Friday  in 
July  1805,  being  the  first  day  of  the  annual  fair.  Before 
this  accident  the  trunk  measured  48£  feet  in  circum- 
ference. 

To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  an  accident  which  might 
be  productive  of  such  fatal  consequences  to  those  within 
the  sphere  of  its  operation,  the  lord  of  the  manor,  we  are 
informed,  has  decreed  the  fall  of  this  celebrated  tree. 
This  will  render  our  engraving  doubly  valuable  to  all 
those  who  wish  to  possess  a  representation  of  Fairlop 
Oak,  when  the  original  is  no  longer  to  be  seen. 


Of  Dwarfs ;   with  biographical  particulars  of  some  of  the 
most  remarkable. 

T' 
HE  existence  of  nations  of  pygmies,  is  an  idea  long 

exploded  by  the  well-informed,  and  doubtless  originated 
in  the  natural  love  of  mankind  for  the  marvellous.  That 
nature  often  deviates  from  the  common  route,  giving 
some  men  a  stature  far  exceeding  the  ordinary  stardard, 
while  that  of  others  is  in  the  same  proportion  below  it,  is  too 
obvious  to  admit  of  a  doubt.  The  latter  we  call  Dwarfs, 
and  to  this  diminutive  class,  belonged  the  individuals  to 
whom  the  following  particulars  refer. 

The  first  we  shall  mention  is  the  celebrated  English 
dwarf  JefFery  Hudson.  He  was  born  at  Oakham,  in 
Rutlandshire,  in  1619,  and  when  about  eight  years  of  age, 
measured  but  eighteen  inches  in  height,  and  was  retained 
in  the  service  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  resided 
at  Burleigh-on-the-Hill.  Soon  after  the  marriage  of 

Charles 


OF    DWARFS.  407 

Charles  1.  the  king  and  queen  being  entertained  at  Bur- 
leigh,  little  Jeffery  was  served  up  to  table  in  a  cold  pye, 
which,  when  cut  open,  presented   to  the  astonished   royal 
visitors  the  diminutive  Jeffery  armed  cap-a-pee.     This  pye 
was  purposely   constructed   to   hold  the  little  hero,  who, 
when  the  dutchess  made  an  incision  in  his  castle  of  paste, 
shifted  his  situation  until  sufficient  room  was   made  for 
his  appearance.      The   queen    expressing  herself  greatly 
pleased  with  his  person  and  manners,  the  dutchess  pre- 
sented him  to  her  majesty,  who  afterwards  kept  him  as 
her  dwarf;  from  seven  years  of  age  till  thirty,  he  never 
grew  taller  ;  but  after  thirty  he  shot  up  to  three  feet  nine 
inches,  and  there  fixed.      Jeffery  became  a  considerable 
part  of  the  entertainment  of  the  court,  and  Sir  William 
Davenport  wrote  a  poem  on  the  battle  between  him  and 
a  turkey-cock,  which  took  place  at  Dunkirk,  where  a  mid- 
wife rescued  him    from  the  fury  of   his  antagonist.     In 
1638,  was  published  a  very  small  and  curious  book  called 
"The  New  Year's  Gift,"  presented  at  court  from  the  Lady 
Parvula  to  the  Lord  Minimus  (commonly    called  Little 
Jeffery),    her    majesty's    servant,  &c.  written    by  Micro- 
philus,  with  a  portrait  of  Jeffery  prefixed.     Before  this 
period,  our  hero  was  employed  on  a  negociation  of  great 
importance ;    it  was  to  fetch  a    midwife  for    the  queen, 
but  on  his  return  with  this  gentlewoman,  and  her  ma- 
jesty's   dancing-master,  with    many  rich  presents  to  the 
queen  from  her  mother,  Mary  de  Medicis,  he  was  taken 
by  the  Dunkirkers,  and  besides  what  he  was  bringing  for 
the    queen,  he  lost    to    the  value  of   two    thousand  five 
hundred    pounds,  that  he  had  received  in   France,  on  his 
own  account,  from  the   queen's  mother,  and  ladies  of  that 
court;  this  happened  in  the  year  1G30. 

Jeffery  lost  little  of  his  confidence  with  the  queen 
on  this  misfortune,  but  was  often  teazed  by  the  courtiers 
and  domestics  with  the  story  of  the  turkey-cock,  and  trifles 

of 


408  OF    DWARFS. 

of  a  similar  description  ;  his  temper  was  by  no  means 
calculated  to  put  up  with  repeated  affronts,  and  at  last 
being-  greatly  provoked  by  Mr.  Crofts,  a  young  gentleman 
of  family,  a  challenge  ensued;  and  Mr.  Crofts  coming 
to  the  rendezvous,  armed  only  with  a  squirt,  the  little 
creature  was  so  enraged,  that  a  real  duel  ensued  ;  and  the 
appointment  being  on  horseback  with  pistols,  to  put 
them  more  on  a  level,  Jeffery,  with  the  first  fire,  shot  his 
antagonist  dead.  This  happened  in  France,  whither  he 
had  attended  his  mistress  in  the  troubles. 

He  was  afterward  taken  prisoner  by  a  Turkish  rover, 
and  sold  into  Barbary  ;  but  did  not  remain  long  in  capti- 
vity, for  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war  he  was  made 
captain  in  the  royal  army;  and  in  1644,  attended  the 
queen  again  into  France,  where  he  remained  till  the  re- 
storation. At  last,  upon  suspicion  of  his  being  privy  to 
the  popish  plot,  he  was  taken  up  in  1682,  and  confined 
in  the  gate-house,  Westminster,  where  he  ended  his  life, 
in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age. 

Richard  Gibson  and  Anne  Shepherd,  were. also  greatly 
distinguished  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  as  dwarfs,  and 

O  O  * 

seem  to  have  been  of  a  good  family,  as  the  former  was 
page  of  the  back-stairs,  and  painter  to  the  king;  and  on 
his  marriage  with  the  latter,  the  king  and  queen  ho- 
noured the  nuptials  with  their  presence,  his  majesty  acting 
the  part  of  her  father,  literally  giving  her  to  Gibson  at  the 
altar.  They  seem  to  have  been  jiist  tallied  for  each  other, 
being  exactly  three  feet  ten  inches  each  in  height,  lived 
in  great  conjugal  happiness,  and  had  nine  children,  who 
were  all  of  a  proper  size;  he  died  in  the  year  1690,  and 
she  survived  him  many  years,  dying  in  the  year  1709,  in 
the  89th  year  of  her  age. 

Nicholas  Ferry,  the  real  name  of  the  King  of  Poland's 
dwarf,  better  known  by  the  name  of  Bebe,  was  born  at 
IMaisnes,  in  the  Voses.  His  father  and  mother  were  of 


OF    DWARFS.  409 

good  size,  but  yet,  when  he  carne  into  the  world  he  was 
only  eight  or  nine  inches  long,  arid  weighed  no  more  than 
twelve  ounces.  He  was  besides  extremely  delicate.  A 
wooden  shoe  served  him  for  a  cradle,  and  he  could  never 
suck  his  mother,  his  mouth  being  too  small  to  receive 
the  nipple.  A  goat  therefore  supplied  her  place  ;  he  had 
no  other  nurse  than  this  animal,  which  on  her  side  seemed 
to  conceive  an  attachment  for  him. 

At  the  age  of  six  months  he  had  the  small-pox,  and 
the  milk  of  the  goat  was  his  only  sustenance,  and  his 
only  medicine.  At  eighteen  months  he  began  to  speak, 
and  at  two  years  could  almost  walk  without  assistance; 
it  was  then  that  he  first  wore  shoes,  which  were  eighteen 
lines  in  length. 

The  coarse  food  of  the  natives  of  the  Vosges,  such  as 
pulse,  bacon,  and  potatoes,  constituted  the  nourishment  of 
his  infancy  till  the  age  of  six  years,  and  during  that  time 
he  had  several  fits  of  illness,  from  all  which  he  happily 
recovered.  At  five  years  he  was  completely  formed, 
though  he  had  only  attained  the  height  of  twenty-two 
inches ;  and  to  this  singularity  he  was  indebted  for  his 
subsequent  good  fortune. 

Stanislaus,  King  of  Poland,  having  heard  of  this  ex- 
traordinary child,  was  desirous  of  seeing  him.  He  was 
sent  for  to  Luneville,  where  he  had  for  his  habitation 
the  palace  of  that  beneficent  king,  for  whom  he  conceived 
a  strong  attachment,  though  otherwise  he  manifested  but 
little  sensibility.  That  Prince  gave  him  the  name  of 
Bebe.  Notwithstanding  all  the  pains  that  were  bestowed 
on  his  education,  he  shewed  no  signs  either  of  judgment 
or  of  reason. 

The   \ery  small  portion  of  knowledge  he  was  able 
attain  was  insufficient  to  give    him  any  notion  of  religion, 
or  to  render  him    capable  of  any   connected  reasoning. 

Eccentric,  No.  IX.  3  G  His 


410  OF    DWARFS. 

His  capacity  never  exceeded  that  of  a  sagacious  dog, 
He  seemed  fond  of  music,  and  would  occasionally  beat 
time  with  great  exactness.  He  even  danced  with  tole- 
rable precision,  hut  it  was  only  while  his  eyes  were  atten- 
tively fixed  on  his  master,  that  he  might  direct  all  his 
steps  and  all  his  movements  by  the  signs  he  received 
from  him. 

Being  once  in  the  country,  he  one  day  straggled  into  a 
meadow,  the  grass  of  which  was  higher  than  himself. 
On  another  occasion,  when  he  imagined  that  he  was  lost 
in  a  copse,  he  cried  out  for  help.  He  was  susceptible  of 
passions,  as  desire,  anger  and  jealousy.  On  these  sub- 
jects his  discourse  was  without  connection,  and  only  dis- 
played confused  ideas.  In  a  word,  he  shewed  only  that 
kind  of  sensibility  which  arises  from  circumstances  that 
strike  the  eye,  or  from  a  temporary  impression.  The 
small  degree  of  reason  he  manifested,  seemed  to  be 
very  little  superior  to  the  instinct  of  animals. 

The  Princess  of  Talmond  became  his  instructor;  but 
notwithstanding  the  talent  she  herself  possessed,  she 
could  not  develope  any  in  Bebe.  The  result  was  such  as 
might  have  been  expected.  He  conceived  such  a  strono- 
attachment  for  her  that  seeing  her  one  day  caress  a  little 
dog,  he  snatched  the  animal  from  her  hands  and  threw  it 
out  of  the  window,  crying,  "  Why  do  you  love  him  more 
than  me  ?" 

Till  the  age  of  fifteen  Bebe  possessed  the  use  of  all  his 
organs,  and  his  whole  diminutive  figure  was  well-formed 
and  justly  proportioned.  He  was  then  only  twenty-nine 
inches  in  height.  At  this  age  puberty  began  to  appear, 
but  the  efforts  of  nature  were  prejudicial  to  him. 
Hitherto  the  juices  had  been  equally  distributed  through- 
out his  whole  frame,  but  when  the  age  of  manhood  decla- 
red itself,  this  harmony  was  disturbed,  and  it  had  the  effect 

of 


OF    DWARFS.  411 

of  enervating  an  already  weak  and  slender  body,  of  im- 
poverishing his  blood,  and  drying  up  his  nerves.  His 
strength  diminished,  his  spine  became  incurvated,  his  legs 
fell  away,  one  shoulder-blade  grew  out  of  place,  his  nose 
acquired  a  disproportionate  size ;  Bebe  lost  his  gaiety, 
and  became  quite  infirm.  He  however  grew  four  inches 
in  the  four  succeeding  years. 

The  Count  de  Tressan,  who  attentively  observed  the 
progress  of  nature  in  the  developement  of  this  dwarf, 
foresaw  that  he  would  die  of  old  a<je  before  he  was 

O 

thirty.  In  fact,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  became 
quite  infirm,  and  those  who  had  the  care  of  him  re- 
marked traits  of  childishness,  not  resembling  that  of  his 
early  years,  but  the  consequence  of  decrepitude.  During 
the  last  year  of  his  life  he  was  so  enfeebled  that  he  could 
scarcely  walk.  The  external  air  incommoded  him  unless 
it  was  very  warm.  He  was  led  out  to  walk  in  the  sun, 
which  seemed  to  revive  him,  but  he  could  scarcely  go 
one  hundred  steps  at  a  time.  In  the  month  of  May 
1764,  he  had  a  slight  indisposition,  which  was  succeeded 
by  a  cold,  attended  with  fever,  that  threw  him  into  a  kind 
of  lethargy,  from  Avhich  he  recovered  for  a  few  moments, 
but  without  speaking. 

During  the  last  four  days  of  his  life  he  was  more  than 
commonly  sensible.  His  ideas  were  more  clear  and  con- 
nected than  they  had  ever  been  in  his  full  vigour;  a  cir- 
cumstance that  not  a  little  surprised  those  about  him. 
He  died  the  9th  of  June  1764,  having  almost  completed 
his  23d  year,  and  attained  the  height  of  thirty-three  inches. 

Joseph  Borulawski,  a  native  of  Poland,  is  well  known 
to  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  from  the 
practice  of  exhibiting  his  person  at  fairs,  and  on  other 
occasions.  His  parents  were  above  the  common  size, 
and  had  six  children,  of  whom  the  eldest  is  only  thirty- 
four  inches  in  height,  and  is  well  made.  The  second, 
3  o  2  Joseph, 


412  OF    DWARFS. 

Joseph,  does  not  exceed  twenty-eight  inches.  Three 
younger  brothers  who  followed  at  intervals  of  a  year 
between  each,  are  about  five  and  a  half  feet  in  height;  but 
the  sixth  child,  a  female,  is  no  more  than  twenty-one 
inches,  well  proportioned,  handsome,  and  has  a  very 
intelligent  countenance. 

Fortunately  for  Borulawski,  he  bore  no  resemblance 
to  Bebe  but  in  his  stature.  To  the  former  nature  has  been 
much  more  favourable.  He  enjoys  good  health,  is  sen- 
sible and  agile.  He  is  capable  of  bearing  fatigue,  and 
lifts  with  ease  weights  which  appear  considerable  in 
comparison  to  his  size.  He  is  still  farther  distinguished 
from  Bebe,  by  possessing  a  strong  and  cultivated 
judgment.  He  reads  and  writes  extremely  well, 
understands  arithmetic,  German  and  French,  and  speaks 
those  languages  very  fluently.  He  is  ingenious  in  all  he 
undertakes,  lively  in  his  repartees,  and  just  in  his  reason- 
ings. In  a  word,  Borulawski,  according  to  M.  de  Tres- 
san's  expression,  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  perfect  man, 
though  very  diminutive,  and  Bebe  as  an  imperfect  one. 
Nor  can  this  appear  surprising  when  it  is  known  that 
Bebe's  mother  was  delivered  of  him  at  the  end  of  seven 
months,  during  which  she  scarcely  knew  that  she  was 
pregnant,  and  on  the  contrary,  Borulawski  was  born  at 
the  usual  period. 

Another  very  singular  instance  of  the  caprice  of  na- 
ture is  Peter  Dantlow,  a  man  of  uncommon  talents. 
He  is  the  son  of  a  Cossack  in  the  regiment  of  Ladni. 
His  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters,  are  all  of  the  ordinary 
size,  but  he  himself  is  not  more  than  twenty-nine  inches 
in  height.  This  dwarf  has  no  arms.  His  shoulders  ter- 
minate in  small  fleshy  stumps,  and  his  head  is  so  closely 
jollied  to  his  shoulders,  that  it  is  difficult  to  introduce 
a  finger  between  them,  His  figure  is  nevertheless  far 

from 


OF    DWARFS.  413 

from  disagreeable.  He  is  not  deficient  in  judgment, 
understanding,  or  memory.  His  breast  is  flat  and  his 
legs  curved.  He  has  no  joints  at  the  knees,  but  the 
bones  of  his  legs  and  thighs  form  only  one  piece  down  to 
the  heel.  The  calves  of  his  legs  are  very  small,  and  bear 
no  proportion  to  his  body,  which  has  a  manly  air.  On 
each  foot  he  has  only  four  toes,  all  of  which  are  curved, 
and  two  of  them  are  moveable.  He  walks  extremely  fast, 
but  if  he  happens  to  fall  he  is  incapable  of  rising  again, 
from  the  want  of  joints  in  the  knees.  He  writes  very  ra- 
pidly with  his  left  foot,  and  his  characters,  both  Russian 
and  Latin,  are  perfectly  legible.  His  drawings  with  the 
pen  are  equal  in  beauty  to  engravings.  He  sings,  plays  at 
cards,  at  chess,  smokes,  and  even  fills  his  pipe  himself. 
He  knits  stockings,  and  for  that  purpose  employs  wooden 
needles.  He  pulls  off  his  boots,  helps  himself  to  his 
food  with  his  left  foot ;  in  a  word  he  performs  a  mul- 
titude of  things  that  are  almost  incredible  He  mani- 
fests a  great  eagerness  to  improve  himself,  and  learns  with 
great  ease.  The  colonel  to  whom  he  belongs  is  therefore 
solicitous  to  cultivate  these  commendable  dispositions, 
and  to  furnish  him  with  everything  that  can  facilitate 
his  progress. 

In  the  spring  of  1805,  Don  Joze  Cordero  Pereira  ar- 
rived in  London  from  Portugal,  on  a  visit  to  the  ambas- 
sador of  that  country.  This  gentleman  was  then  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age,  twenty-eight  inr.hes  in  height,  and 
elegantly  formed.  He  is  said  to  be  as  accomplished  as 
his  appearance  is  prepossessing.  The  Portuguese  charge 
d'affaires  was  accustomed  to  raise  the  Don  erect  in  his 
hand,  to  carry  him  about  the  house,  and  to  convey  him 
from  the  hall  of  the  ambassador's  mansion  to  the  carriage 
that  conveyedh'unto  his  own  apartments. 

Singular 


(  414  ) 

Singular  Account,  of  James  How,  the  female  Husband. 

./Y.BOUT  the  year  1731,  a  young  woman  named  Mary 
East  was  courted  by  a  young  man,  for  whom  she  con- 
ceived the  strongest  affection.  This  man  afterwards 
falling  into  bad  courses,  resolved  to  try  his  fortune  on  the 
highway  ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  apprehended 
for  a  robbery,  for  which  he  was  tried  and  condemned  to 
die  :  which  sentence,  however,  was  changed  to  transport- 
ation. This  circumstance  so  deeply  affected  the  mind  of 
Mary  East  that  she  determined  ever  afterwards  to  re- 
main single.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  her  residence 
lived  another  young  woman,  who  having  likewise  met 
with  several  disappointments  in  the  tender  passion,  had 
formed  a  similar  resolution.  As  they  were  intimate,  they 
communicated  their  intentions  to  each  other,  and  at 
length  concluded  to  live  together.  Having  consulted  on 
the  most  prudent  method  of  proceeding,  it  was  proposed 
that  one  of  them  should  put  on  man's  apparel,  and  that 
they  should  live  as  man  and  wife  in  some  place  where 
they  were  not  known.  The  only  difficulty  now  was  who 
should  be  the  man,  which  was  decided  by  lot  in  favour  of 
Mary  East,  who  was  then  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  and 
her  partner  seventeen.  The  sum  of  money  they  pos- 
sessed between  them  was  about  thirty  pounds,  with  which 
they  set  out;  and  Mary,  after  purchasing  a  man's  habit, 
assumed  the  name  of  James  How,  by  which  we  shall 
for  a  while  distinguish  her.  In  their  progress  they 
chanced  to  stop  at  a  small  public-house  at  Epping,  which 
was  to  be  let;  this  house  they  took  and  lived  in  it  for 
some  time. 

About  this  period  a  quarrel,  of  the  cause  of  which  we 
are  not  informed,  took  place  between  James  How  and  a 
young  gentleman,  against  whom  James,  however,  entered 
an  action  and  obtained  a  verdict  of  five  hundred  pounds 

damages, 


ACCOUNT    OF    JAME«    HOW.  41/3 

damages.  With  this  sum  our  couple  sought  a  place  in 
a  better  situation,  and  took  a  very  good  puhlic-house  in 
Limehouse-hole,  where  they  lived  many  years  as  man  and 
wife,  in  good  credit  and  esteem  ;  and  by  their  industry 
and  frugality,  they  contrived  to  save  a  considerable  sum 
of  money-  Leaving  the  last  mentioned  situation,  they 
removed  to  the  White  horse  at  Poplar,  which  as  well  as 
several  other  houses  they  afterwards  purchased. 

In  this  manner  they  had  lived  about  eighteen  years, 
when  a  woman,  who  was  acquainted  with  Mary  East  in 
her  youth,  and  was  in  the  secret  of  her  metamorphosis, 
knowing  in  what  creditable  circumstances  she  now  lived, 
thought  this  a  favourable  opportunity  to  turn  her  know- 
ledge to  some  advantage.  She  accordingly  sent  to 
Mr.  How  for  ten  pounds,  at  the  same  time  intimating 
that  in  case  of  refusal,  she  would  disclose  all  she  knew 
concerning  the  affair.  Fearful  of  her  executing  this 
threat,  James,  in  compliance  with  her  demand,  sent  her 
the  money. 

For  a  considerable  time  they  remained  free  from  any 
farther  demands  of  a  similar  nature.  James,  with  his 
supposed  wife,  continued  to  live  in  good  credit  till  the 
year  1764  ;  she  had  served  all  the  parish  offices  in  Poplar, 
excepting  that  of  constable  and  churchwarden  from  the 
former  of  which  she  was  excused  by  a  lameness  in  her 
hand,  occasioned  by  the  quarrel  abovementioned,  and 
the  functions  of  the  latter  she  was  to  have  performed  the 
following  year.  She  had  been  several  times  foreman  of 
juries,  though  her  effeminacy  was  frequently  remarked. 
At  length,  about  Christmas  1764,  the  woman  who  had 
practised  the  former  piece  of  extortion,  resolved  again  to 
have  recourse  to  the  same  expedient,  and  with  the  like 
menaces  obtained  ten  pounds  more.  Flushed  with  her 
success,  and  emboldened  to  prosecute  her  system  of  de- 
predation, it  was  only  a  fortnight  before  she  repeated 

her 


4UJ  ACCOUNT    OF    JAMES    HOW. 

her  demand  for  the  same  sum,  which  Jarnes  happened 
not  to  have  in  the  house ;  but  still  fearing  a  discovery, 
sent  her  back  five-pounds. 

About  this  time  the  supposed  wife  of  James  How  was 
taken  ill  and  died,  and  Mrs.  B.  now  formed  a  plan  to 
increase  her  depredations.  For  this  purpose  she  pro- 
cured two  fellows  to  assist  her  in  its  execution  ;  one  of 
these,  a  mulatto,  passed  for  a  police  officer,  and  the  other 
was  equipped  with  a  pocket  staff  as  a  constable.  In  these 
characters  they  repaired  to  the  White  Horse,  and  en- 
quired  for  Mr.  How,  who  answered  to  the  name.  They 
informed  her  that  they  were  corne  from  Justice  Fielding 
to  apprehend  her  for  a  robbery  committed  thirty  years 
before,  and  that  they  were  acquainted  with  the  secret  of 
her  sex.  She  was  terrified  to  the  highest  degree  on  ac- 
count of  this  discovery,  but  conscious  of  her  innocence 
with  regard  to  the  robbery;  and  an  intimate  acquaintance, 
one  Mr.  Williams  a  pawn-broker,  happening  to  pass  by, 
she  called  him  in  and  acquainted  him  with  the  business 
of  the  two  men,  adding  that  she  was  really  a  woman,  but 
was  innocent  of  the  crime  with  which  she  was  charged. 
Mr.  Williams,  as  soon  as  he  had  recovered  from  the  sur- 
prize occasioned  by  this  disclosure,  told  her  she  should 
not  be  carried  before  Sir  John  Fielding,  but  before  her 
own  bench  of  justices,  adding  that  he  would  just  step 
home,  and  return  in  a  few  minutes  to  accompany  her. 
On  his  departure,  the  ruffians  renewed  their  threats,  but 
at  the  same  time  told  her  if  she  would  give  them  one 
hundred  pounds,  they  would  cause  her  no  farther 
trouble,  if  not,  she  should  be  hanged  in  six  days,  and 
they  would  receive  forty  pounds  a  piece  for  bringing  her 
to  justice.  Notwithstanding  their  menaces,  she  firmly 
resisted  their  demand,  waiting  with  the  utmost  im- 
patience for  the  return  of  Mr.  Williams.  Persisting  in 
her  refusal,  they  at  length  forced  her  out  of  the  house} 

carried 


ACCOUNT   OF    JAMES    HOW.  417 

carried  her  through  the  field